Harmony
by FightForADream
Summary: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."-Mahatma Gandhi. Two broken persons, each on their own ways. But they both are foolish enough not to give up. Starts pre-game, continues post-game. Friendship Jensen/OC, eventual romance.
1. Just passing by

**Harmony**

har-mo-ny [_hahr-mug-nee_]

_Music: The simultaneous combination of tones, especially when blended into chords pleasing to the ear; chordal structure, as distinguished from melody and rhythm.  
_

Summary: All this story is based to friendship of Adam and Deanna and that helps them over taught times. There will be joys, sorrows, but nothing they would not be able to overcome. I am not revealing what this is all about now. _  
_

Warnings: dark humor, violence, swearing, etc. I don't own Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Sarif Industries, Jensen (all owned by Eidos Montreal/Square Enix) nor I am making profit with this bla bla blaa. However, copying and publishing this text somewhere else without proper credit and mentioning of Eidos Montreal, DS: HR and the original writer is against good manners. First chapters are pre game events and I will warn you when I start post-game section. With multiple option game, it contains spoilers, surprise surprise.

* * *

**Just passing by**

Adam entered the Sarif Corporation. The secretary greeted him with a cheerful voice, as usual, and he nodded in reply. It was Sunday morning so only a few people were working. Most of them were scientists, who were too deep in their research to notice which day it was, or just people who were a necessity to keep the building running.

Most blended into a mass, expect one individual. They both headed for the stairs, she a few meters ahead of him. If Adam remembered correctly, she was part of the IT-security staff. What he could see of her from behind was dark blond hair cut short, unfashionable and baggy clothes, and a high pitched voice, which was currently accusing her comlink. However he was not sure if he knew her name or if he'd even see her very often.

"Christ, Asimo. You really should check out who you hire as your minions. Reg's an idiot."

There was a moment of silence.

"No, _you_ listen. This is not first time she's sent me to do an intern's job. You, if anyone, should know that I have better things to do than push a button to get a computer to clean itself of a virus. You're only keeping her because you like to watch her ass."

Adam could not help but smile a little for the female. She had the right attitude. She continued on up the stairs, while he headed to Pritchard's office. As usual he stepped in without knocking.

"What do you want now?" the cyber-security chief barked.

"Nice to see you too. And I actually have something for you", Adam answered. Seeing Pritchard pissed off more than usual made the sun shine from cloudless sky.

"How lovely, me getting more useless work from you."

"I don't think so. You might actually like this", he said and tossed the data storage device on his desk.

"I found some interesting documents with secured files. I thought you'd like to have a look."

He enjoyed seeing Pritchard squirming inside his skin. It was not obvious, but his glance kept returning to the corner of his eyes. To relieve the poor man from his suffering, Adam turned around.

"See you Pritchard."

"Piss off, Jensen. Go to Megan and see if she would give a fuck."

Meanwhile another member of their IT department was busy with her work. Now she was in her rat hole of a room fixing a computer with a busted component. This was actually a part of her job that she liked. She did not have to see any people and something needed to be repaired. Only thing she did not like that she had to do it in her office. Already small office had some extreme makeshift solution that there was enough room to move and work. She had tried many times to tell her boss that she needed a bigger workshop.

Too bad the said bitch and Deanna's superior, Regina Caron, only saw her own ass. It was true that she was a gifted programmer but what kept Reg in her position was her ability to sweet-talk everyone approaching her. Lack of social ability was Deanna's biggest flaw and advantage. It made her terrific with machines but miserable for customer service.

Someone cleared their throat. Deanna looked up from the floor. Think of the devil and it appears. The blond wondered a moment if she should keep the music blasting or not, but decided to turn the volume down.

"Yes, Caron?"

"I just passed by to see how my favorite employee is doing. And Athene said there's a glitch in her comlink."

"And I say that it is not my cup of tea. I might be the help desk of this company but there's a limit even to my boundaries. And if you _actually_ looked around, you would see that I am at my limits already", Deanna said with a poisonous tone, covered with sugary sweet icing.

"Which half of is your personal junk that should be removed. I swear that I should have this room cleaned from this trash", Caron said.

"Whatever you say, but don't you dare. Because after that I'll be talking with the big boss and then _you_ have to explain why there are no spare parts available. You really want to risk your neck there? Now, if you would be so kind, I have some work to do."

Deanna yawned and turned the music back up. Caron tried to yell something over the voice but did not have any response. Angry, the woman stormed off, probably seeing that her unworthy minion wouldn't receive a raise in few years. But it was really worth it, so Deanna was fine. She could afford to have a roof over her bed, some credits for food and Nu-pozs, pay her electricity bill and so on. Only bug in the perfect life was the people like Caron. Also most scientists fell to this category.

The ringing of her comlink interrupted her train of thoughts. "Greylake."

"Hey, it's Megan. I'm sorry to disturb you but one of the section 3B lab computers was damaged and it holds some important data files."

Deanna moaned. "Doctor, I have told you this a thousand times. Use the central memory station. And no test subjects near the computers. They only end up breaking things."

"I know, I know. Like I said, I'm sorry. But you know that they don't mean it. They just don't realize their own powers."

"Like jumping through bulletproof glass. If I remember correct, it took three days to get the cables hooked again. But fine, I'll head up."

"Thank you. You're a treasure", Megan said, sounding truly relieved and disconnected. Deanna had to smile. At least somebody acknowledged her value. She collected her tools and put them to their places before heading again.

Doors hissed shut behind the tech support. Labs made her feel really uneasy. Maybe it was the amount of people who worked there, or what they did. Now she saw at least three rooms with white coats, poking test subjects or making notes.

It was the robots she marveled at. They were the best one could buy and it showed. Maintaining them also gave a nice rise in Deanna's, and her co-workers, pay checks.

She reached the B section, where a member of Doctor Reed's team greeted her.

"Hey Deanna. Megan's busy right now but mentioned you would be coming. Have to say that things are hectic here."

Deanna looked at the female. Jazmine was in her early 30's, a bit skinny woman with large eyes and a friendly smile.

"How so? I thought that things were hectic here always."

"We'll be publishing something revolutionary. I can't say much about it, but it will be something huge", Jaz explained during their walk. Deanna noticed her resting her hand on her stomach and smiling softly. If the tech remembered correct Jaz had a child with her partner Jacob.

"Are you and Jacob having another one?" she asked boldly and nodded towards Jaz's stomach. Jazmine blushed heavily.

"Am I that obvious? Yes, we are. We actually found out just recently so hush", Jaz answered.

Deanna made a closing-a-zipper move before her lips. "I won't say a word. So instead, where is my baby that needs repairing?"

"The one lying there. For some reason our patient got a panic attack. He was testing a new type of hand augmentation", Jaz said. She pointed to a computer screen, which lied knocked over. Deanna took a long inhale. It hurt her soul to see a piece of art mutilated violently. There were dents all over the metallic frame and a few places the metal had been actually pierced.

"I have to take it with me to see the internal damage. Probably I'll have to replace it but I'll try my best to see if the memory was saved", Deanna said. Jaz nodded.

"Megan was afraid so. Please, try your best. Some results are really important."

"We'll see, we'll see", Deanna muttered when she disconnected the rest of the cables.

Jaz returned her work. The technician was concentrated on her task so she did not notice the new person entering the room.

"Deanna? C-could you spare a moment?"

She jumped around out of surprise. It was Darius, Reed's lab-assistant.

"Did you crash your computer again?" she asked and massaged her temples. The soft-featured male was all thumbs when it came to computers. Maybe his field was somewhere else than using machines.

"I, hm, no, it's not about that", he said.

Deanna sighed and continued to unplug the cables. "Then what is it?"

"W-would you go out with me?"

_Shit, did he seriously just ask that?_ Deanna groaned mentally. She bit her lip, wondering what to answer. She really didn't want to hurt the man's feelings but she had no interest in him, or dating in general.

"I-I'm sorry Darius but no. If you excuse me, I'm busy", she said and lifted the computer. She had marched past him when he called after her.

"Why not? Please, I beg you. You'd be surprised", he pleaded to her.

Deanna looked over her shoulder.

"I am not interested. Understand it."

"But why? If you knew me better-"

"Darius. Honestly, that only sounds pathetic. Accept that I'm not interested and move on", she stated with cool tone.

"Then what you are interested in?"

_Heroes, but you can never be one_ Deanna wanted to say.

"That's none of your business", she snapped and hurried away from the awkward situation.

She had almost cleared the lab section when somebody yelled behind her back. "Hey bitch, when will you clean my computer? I sent a report two weeks ago."

"As soon as you will stop filling it with shit. Our logs show that there are at least five visits to xxx-rated pages and I'm not going to talk about the solitaire sessions, which have been played after you reported. You're lucky that I'm not reporting you", she yelled over her shoulder. The previous encounter with Darius had left her sour.

The voice was recognizable enough to identify the screamer. Misha Herceg was a real bully, who put pressure on everyone who worked under him. Only 27 years old, the genius had his own research team that worked with augmentations suitable for kids. Which seemed to mean he also thought that everyone else was below him.

"And I say that you are an idiot as I never misuse my computer. So say that again and I'll make sure you regret it", Herceg threatened her.

Deanna stopped and turned around.

"How? I only state facts. What interests me is the well-being of these computers. You can't work without them and the company does not run without you. So as much as I hate it, I do my best to keep them running. But people like you seem not to understand that something is required from your end as well. Somebody will clean it, but next time there is a report from you, I'll personally see that it goes to Pritchard and ask his opinion."

"As if you would do something like that. Regina keeps you on too tight leash", Herceg snarled. Guards near them grew alerted. Herceg was a tall man with threatening aura and Deanna had to admit she started to feel nervous. She was not short but compared to him she was the underdog.

"I have better things to do than argue with you", she said and turned around.

Herceg looked smug. "Ah, yes. Somebody has to_ earn_ their pay checks. How sad that you techs have so small pay compared to _us_, who do real work."

_I'm not hitting him. I'm not hitting him,_ she thought when she stormed towards the elevators and her nest. There she would be safe from monsters like Herceg. She just wanted to punch that cocky smile away from his face. He was lucky that she did not believe in violence as a problem solver.

Adam wondered what had happened. He was trying to find Megan and ask if she would like to have dinner with him after work. It had been a while since they had had some private time. He was worried she would push herself too far but now that concern was pushed away momentarily.

"What happened here?" he asked one of the guards.

"Nothing too special, sir. Just one of the laboratory workers was bullying an IT-department member. Thought it was partly her fault as well, sir", the guard answered. Was his name Roach or something like that? Generic armor made it hard to separate individuals.

"I'll be sure to mention it to Doctor Reed or Pritchard. They will see what has to be done", Adam answered.

"Thank you sir, I'd really like that. Lately the scientists here have been a bit snappy towards everyone", the guard answered.

Adam nodded. "I am afraid so. Doctor Reed has talked with me about that and wishes for understanding. The upcoming press conference is a huge thing", he said.

The guard shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so but I'm surprised there have not been any fights. People are really stressed and it won't take much to trigger an augmented war veteran."

"I'll see what I can do. Thank you for notifying me", Adam said and moved forward.

What he just heard worried him. If anyone with a new augmentation lost their cool it would be disastrous. After wandering around a moment he finally found what he was looking for.

"Hey Adam, what are you doing here?" Megan asked. Adam noticed that she did not give him a kiss or even a hug. She barely moved her head to his direction.

"Came to see you, and ask you to dinner after work. Also things seem to be a bit hot here. Someone was picking on tech worker", Adam said.

"It has to be Misha. He's a gifted kid but his attitude needs some working", Megan groaned.

"Adam, I promise I'll talk to him. However, we can't do anything real until he violates the rules of the company really bad", she continued. Adam looked at her puzzled.

"His computer often needs cleaning up or things like that. He claims that he never visits questionable sites but tech-side's investigation told us different. Pritchard stands behind his team 110%. So we are between a rock and a hard place. Personally I believe Misha is smart boy and the company needs him", Megan explained.

"So that causes bad blood between them? Doesn't seem too complicated", Adam answered.

"Pritchard said that they are still trying to find out what is going out. He did not want to yell this on the street but he suspects that somebody is stealing data from us", Megan dropped her voice after she had checked no one was near them.

Adam growled inside his head. Of course Pritchard would not tell him about this. That man was unreasonable.

"I see. He should have at least notified me about the suspicions", he murmured.

"I know, Adam. I know and I told him so. But you know how he is", Megan said.

"Yes Megan. I know and feel sorry that I can't change it", the security chief muttered.

Megan reached out and patted his hand. "Try to cope. After the press conference is over we all have less pressure on us. I think nowadays our janitors are the only ones without burnout symptoms", she said and smiled encouragingly.

"Oh, and Adam, today I'm busy but tomorrow should be fine. I should be ready after seven", Megan offered. Adam thought she looked a bit nervous but did not question it. He trusted that she would tell him when she was ready.

"I have mingled too long. See you at home, Adam", Megan said and hurried away. The dark haired head of security noticed that he had been talking longer than he expected. Also, talking with Pritchard would need to wait for the future. He could not wish more that the press conference was over already.

* * *

**A/N** I hope you enjoyed first chapter of Harmony as much or more than I enjoyed writing it. The idea of this story popped up somewhere last Christmas/New Year and most of the story just wrote itself. I wish my original stories were as easy to write... Huge thanks to Flame Wolfe, who was crazy enough to accept my beta-request. I wouldn't be here publishing this now without you.

Also quick note: comlink is their time Bluetooth/ hands free but more sophisticated version. Augmentation is called infolink so please, don't confuse these two.

PSS. I was quite pacifistic with my play through, so my version of Adam is based to that a lot.


	2. A trojan horse

Additional warning, which I forgot from previous post: Contains lots of bad nerd jokes

Anyway, please enjoy

* * *

**A Trojan horse**

"Shiiiit", Deanna moaned. In front of her opened a crashed computer. _I could have sworn I got it right this time,_ she thought. But no, that stubborn piece of shit refused to co-operate. Everything seemed to fall on her shoulders this day.

Hergec had Manage Storiesfiled a complaint about her. But somebody must had bailed her out because a few days after her 'talk' with Regina, the said woman had mailed her a written apology about what she had said to her. The message itself was short and sterile and did nothing for the anxiousness Deanna felt inside her. She had no idea who had helped her out of the trouble or was it just that Regina had taken too much to chew.

Well, one should not worry for things which were already in the past. Plus, there were things she should worry at the moment, like being late to Pritchard's office. This time she had no time to savor long vowels.

"Crap!"

Less than five minutes and she burst into Pritchard's office.

"I'm sorry I'm late", Deanna panted. She felt a bit out of breath. _Must be the lack of exercising,_ she thought.

"Can't you even knock anymore? And you can't be late when we don't have a meeting", Pritchard announced. Pay attention to the smug look on his face. Before she could object, he continued, "And before you say anything, I did send you an email."

"You son of a bitch! My computer has been out of use half a day", Deanna snapped.

This made Pritchard lean forward. "How so?"

"That Trojan you sent me a few hours ago. Wait, do you mean it was not you?" Deanna asked. If she read the look on Pritchard's face right, things had started to turn into really shitty ones.

"I haven't hacked your files in few weeks", the cyber security chief said.

"May I interrupt?" a new voice suggested. Only then Deanna noticed that there was another person in the Pritchard's office. Dark brown haired male, who seemed a bit older than her and his blue-grey eyes judged her from head to toe. Chills ran under her spine. Oh yeah, that physical security guy. What was his name again?

"Shut up Jensen. We have now more important matters in hand."

"So we are having the meeting?" Deanna blinked her eyes owlishly. Pritchard gave her extremely cold look.

"Just once, could you please take this seriously?"

"Pritchard, would you please tell me what is going on?" Adam tried to intervene.

"Fine. It seems that at least one of our computers has been hacked and pretty bad. I'm not going into details because you would not be getting them anyway. Jensen, this is Deanna Greylake. Roomba, that is another brat", he answered and pointed the younger male. Deanna scowled at the usage of her nickname.

"Adam Jensen", Adam said and extended his hand. He now noticed that this was the same woman who had been talking into her comlink few days ago. Final hint was her voice that had slowly crept higher with her annoyance.

Her short and straight hair was a bit longer at the front with no hair products. She was in her early 30's or a bit below. What surprised him most was that one of her eyes augmented. While her natural eye color was somewhere between green and light brown, the augmentation was ghostly pale blue. He had to admit that the look was a bit unsettling.

However when you got past the eyes, he saw that she was not ugly, at least. Her skin was rather pale and had a few acne scars that she did not hide with make-up. But her cheek-bones were high and overall view was symmetric oval. Her stance also told him that she did not feel comfortable with him.

"As Asimo said, I'm Deanna Greylake. You are Doctor Reed's boyfriend?" she asked hesitantly. Adam felt his insides twist unpleasantly.

"We're not", he took a little pause before continuing, "An item anymore."

"Oh", was the only thing that came to her mind. This was why she hated social situations. She always froze. Pritchard saved her from the awkward silence. He pulled out a laptop.

"Roomba. Get here, now. And you really should stick your head out of the bush at times."

"Well excuse me. I don't have time for 'social mingling'. And even if I had, I still wouldn't do it ", she shot back.

Adam looked how those two people started to work together. He did not deny his surprise that Pritchard was actually capable of working with someone.

Pritchard lifted his gaze from the computer. "Jensen. Get out. We have a situation here and I don't criticize your work when it comes to physical security."

The younger male would have liked to point out that he actually did. Every time there was an issue, Pritchard had to point out what he thought about it. "Pritchard, we need to communicate. It is for the best of the company", Adam tried.

Pritchard did not answer straight away. "As I said, we have a situation here. Somebody hacked Roomba's computer causing it to crash. There is a risk it that it spreads out and infects other computers. Then we would be in a deep shit", he barked after a while.

"How's that even possible?" Adam questioned. Their security was if not the best in the world, then near it.

But Pritchard's short patience had worn out. "Jensen! Out. Now."

A few hours later, they had quarantined the infected files and cleaned them up. Good thing was that it had not speared too wide and only in sub-systems.

Pritchard glared at Deanna.

"You should have come to me right away. This was beyond your skill."

Deanna bit her lower lip. "I really thought it was from you. Somebody had left me a CD. Of course, I grew suspicious and checked what was inside. And I did it in an isolated environment. The main program was some simple algorithms. About that time, the worm was on the run already. Once I thought I had caught it but then it slipped away. Attacks coming from outside are not usually that sophisticated", she muttered.

Even still, her skills were so low compared to Pritchard's. Realizing it hurt more than any of Regina's lectures could. Despite of all the odds, Pritchard's hard look softened.

"Do me favor, kid. Next time you get something shady don't open it in a computer that is connected to the network?" She hated when he called her kid. For Christ's sake, they were only seven years apart.

"Promised. But Pritchard, what if others have also received same kind of CDs?" Deanna asked. Realization hit him hard. Her chief slapped a hand over his face.

"Again, overtime", he mumbled. In a moment he had collected himself and turned towards his screen.

"You and Huerta abandon your normal jobs and concentrate on this. I'll take care of the rest."

"Yes sir", she answered and hurried away from the room.

"And Roomba."

Deanna looked over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"Not a word to that Jensen, am I clear?"

"As crystal", she said and mock saluted him. Outside Pritchard's office she clicked her comlink."Call Lobo."

It beeped a few times before he answered. "_Listening_."

"It's me. Somebody might have given anonymous CDs for people around the building. Possible high classification worms. So whatever you're doing, get your ass in front of your screen", she said while walking.

Sandalio whistled at the other end. "_Man, it's been a while since last one. Nice-_"

"I wish I could share you enthusiasm. I have been here since ten o'clock and it's now almost eight. I was supposed to get away after meeting with Asimo."

"_Ouch. I share your pain."_

"No, you don't. I can hear your smile. But as you're at it, also bring me some candy bars", Deanna laughed back.

Sandalio, or Lobo as they usually called the Hispanic man, had signed on to work almost same time as Deanna. It really showed that they had a close bond and worked well together. Hearing his soft and rich baritone voice, with a hint of a smile in it, soothed her better than the best massage.

Along her walk she nodded at a few workers she knew better than just by name and face. Most of them were cleaners or other basement crawlers. Majority of the staff was leaving and wished her a good night. She wished that she could have snorted. She would be here long.

At the other end of the building Adam was about to finish his day. He still had some reports to read and file until he could call it quits. He also wondered what Pritchard was doing with his team. His instincts told him that something was not right.

Most enigmatic thing was that female working with Pritchard. She could not be stupid if she could work with that pain-in-the-ass-nerd so well. Said male had also waved his questions off considering the miff between helpdesk persons and the scientists.

"_You know Jensen. I really hate when you put your nose where it doesn't belong. Because it's definitely something that has to be cleared by us."_

Maybe he had gone too far there. It _was_ Pritchard's job to keep his employees in leash but he could at least notify their physical side what they had done. Adam understood little about the terminology of their cyber side. Mainly because otherwise talking with Pritchard would have been like listening to Hebrew. But he had no any deeper skills with computers. Only thing he wanted from his computer was that it worked.

His cell vibrated in his pocket.

"Jensen."

_"Hey mate, want to go and have a bear after work? It's been ages since we last talked.__"_

"I'm afraid I am busy right now, Alex. Not that I would mind a drink", he answered.

"_You really sound stressed out. That work will end up killing you."_

"I don't deny it. Maybe we'll have better luck next week", Adam tried to wiggle his way out.

"_Somehow I doubt that. Adam, you really should stop drowning yourself with work."_

So no luck with that one.

"I'm not drowning myself with work. We just have lots going on at the moment."

_"__You should pick a whore and bang her a couple hours. That's real stress relieving."_

"If I go with you, will you stop being my personal shrink?"

The voice at the other end sounded shamelessly pleased. "_I knew you would give in eventually. See you on Friday."_

Adam groaned when he put away his phone. He had fallen into that trap, again. He was glad that Alex had stayed his friend after he started his work at Sarif Industries. But while he enjoyed peace and quiet, Alex was a real social butterfly. If things were anything like in the past, he knew Alex was still quite a ladies man. Surely he still had many nice lady friends, whom he would no doubt try to pimp him.

"This is a bad idea", he muttered.

Few clicks to save last files and he turned off the computer. Satisfied growl emerged from Adam's throat when he stretched hands over his head. It had been a long day.

* * *

Robot facts:

ASIMO aka Deanna's nickname to Pritchard, is a humanoid robot created by Honda. While it is designed to help people it is also used to inspire young kids to study science and mathematics.

While Roomba aka Pritchard's nickname to Deanna, is actually a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners.


	3. False accusations

**False accusations**

Time Warp described the bar quite well. It found inspiration from the beginning of millennium and entering the bar was like a travel. Beer there was also good and the selection was wide. Music played in the background was old rock. In the past Adam had often sat there with his friends.

Now it felt a bit hollow place. Faces he was used to seeing behind the desk were not there and same went with the customers, except one.

"Hey Adam! Take a seat", Alex greeted him. His bright blond hair had thinned but got longer. He had also gained a few pounds since they had last seen each other. But the look in deep blue eyes was as bright as ever.

"Hello to you too. How's it going?" Adam asked. First sip from beer made him sigh with satisfaction. He had really needed this.

"Pretty good, pretty good. Joan and I'll be having a baby next spring."

"Really? I guess that congratulations are in order then", Adam smiled. Alex had always been good with kids and having one had felt good.

"You can't believe it. When Joan first told me I thought I had taken drugs. I felt as like I was high", the blond male said. His smile was spreading and Adam felt the corners of his mouth lift up.

"Nice to know things are going well with you", he said. Alex gave him a boyish grin.

"How about you? Ready to settle down and start a family of your own?" Adam tried to hid where it hit, but the blond still managed to detect it. Alex's smile dropped. "Everything all right? Cause we could talk about it..."

"It's nothing serious. I was seeing a girl until a week ago. She broke up. She said that she could not have both work and me", he said.

"Ouch, that sucks. How about I go and get us another drinks? My treat", Alex said. Adam was about to object but the other man was up already and heading towards the bartender. Adam knew that he was in a trap and had no way out. One of the Alex's best and worst traits was that once he sniffed something, he would hang on it like a terrier. It made him both a great cop and friend.

Said person soon returned with fresh glasses. "So now you drink this glass and while you're drowning it, you tell me all about this girl who crushed my buddy's heart", Alex said.

"Alex, she did not crush it", Adam answered.

"Have you looked lately into a mirror? Because I look at your face and think 'dang, this guy's troubled'", Alex answered.

"Alex, we haven't seen each other in six months and I now remember why. You're fucking annoying", Adam crumbled half-heartedly. The blond male laughed at him.

"No, you love me but can't admit it because otherwise you'd look soft."

"Shut up. Are you still able to play pool as well as in the past?"

A dangerous glint lighted up in Alex's eyes. "You dare to ask. If I remember correct, you suck at it."

Adam responded him with a challenging smirk. "Trust me, I've been practicing."

"Good. Because it would be a shame to whoop a beginner's ass in this game of kings."

In the end Adam noticed he was a lot more drunk than he intended and ready to spill beans about Megan.

"So tell me Adam, was she even pretty?"

"Is Aphrodite the goddess of love?"

Alex whistled. "Buddy, you fell hard for her."

"Yes. She's really nice, self-confident and honest. Plus she actually looks good."

"And good in bed, I assume", Alex said.

Adam gave him a small smirk. "You wouldn't believe how flexible she is."

"You sure you're talking about a human? Because to me she sounds more like a daydream come true."

"You bet she is. I thought we were doing well."

"Maybe she just needs some time. Joan had a hard time when she considered would it be I or us."

"I doubt that. I know her well, and I know that she's hiding something from me. I just wish she would tell me why."

"Women are like that. You never know what waits behind the corner. Now it's your turn."

He had to admit it, talking with Alex had soothed him. Sure, he already knew he would regret this when sobered enough. "Are you sure that you don't have a social enhancer?"

Alex buzzed his lips. "As if. Instead you're the one seriously needing one. Machines are those who can't cope otherwise."

"Would you take an augmentation if you needed one?" Adam asked.

Alex leaned against his cue a while. "Tough question, I admit. Not a social enhancer at least, but if I lost my leg or was paralyzed, then maybe. I want to be able to play with my kid when he or she grows older. It would be wrong for them if there was a possibility to be with them and not to take it."

"Admirable. I'm not sure if I would be able to do such a thing. At times I have my doubts if Sarif's doing the right thing", Adam admitted.

Alex shook his head. "Adam, do you remember all those SWAT people who have lost their leg or arm? Those augments give them the possibility to walk or do normal, everyday tasks. Please Adam, try to think about those normal people who really benefit from the augs", Alex said.

"You're really positive. Even after all the horrible things you have seen as a SWAT member, you still believe in humanity", Adam stated.

"And you're far too cynical. But don't worry, you'll find your sunshine eventually", Alex said and sunk his last cue ball. "Looks like I won again."

Elsewhere, Deanna was finally having the sleep she had longed for. Like everybody else, she had practically lived at the Sarif Industries, trying to find out how wide the cyber-attack had been. Couple hour's naps on an old couch were not nearly as satisfying as taking a shower and laying down on a futon mattress.

Despite her deep sleep something was disturbing enough to alert her. She screamed out of half surprise and half terror when somebody kicked her bedroom's door open. Suddenly the small room was full of noise, bright light and threatening shapes. Bright lamps burned her retina and paralyzed her. Deanna hissed and covered her face the best she could.

"Deanna Greylake? You are under arrest for stealing information of Sarif Industries", a generic guard stated.

"WHAT?" was all she could yell before two another guards lifted her from her bed.

"T-take some clothes for me at least, damn it! And I want to see Pritchard!"

She knew better to not to try kick any shins. She was barefooted and they probably had long boots.

Car ride had been agonizing. Dozens of questions had ran in Deanna's head while they had transported hear. Thankfully it had been the headquarters where they had eventually arrived. Her hauling to basement had not been too kind. First accusing silence and now a bombing with questions she did not have answers.

"I ask you again! This data log shows you downloading research data and transferring it to a data storage device. Where is that device now?"

"For the thousandth time, there is no such a thing and I want Pritchard here." She did not know who this guy was. Certainly not Jensen. This guy had a meaner look on his face, which his little beetle eyes boosted.

"You tell me and then we'll find out who will help you."

"I won't say a word unless he is here."

"You know you're a stubborn little bitch. I keep wondering how Pritchard had managed to stand you so long. Word goes around that there's some favors you do for him." Her interrogator made complete one hundred and eighty degrees flip there. His voice turned smooth and slippery, something that awoke an irresistible urge to punch him. Too bad her hands were cuffed behind a chair.

"Something you aren't getting, I guess."

The male's face grew dark after the words had passed behind her lips. Shit, why did she not learn to close her mouth in time? Rough fingers snatcher her chin. She winced a little when they pressed really painfully against her jaw bone.

"You listen here. Maybe you think this is some kind of joke. But it is not. So where is the data?"

"There is no data. I don't have a fucking reason to get any research data. If you think I would leave so obvious traces then guess again. I'm not that fucking stupid. So get Pritchard here or this will take a really long time", Deanna snarled. She lifted her left leg and kicked the interrogator. It hit his upper thigh, near the groin. She received a fist to her stomach.

"You have some time alone. When I come back, you better have the answer", the man said and left the room. Deanna was thankful that he was finally away. Her stomach hurt, her feet felt frozen and she had no idea what the hell was going on in general.

Neither did others. Adam felt like he had just fallen asleep when his phone rang. "Jensen", he grunted after fishing it out blindly.

"You better have your ass right away to the office. One of your lackeys has arrested my subordinate and accused her of industrial espionage."

"From what?"

"_You want definition? Fine! Use of clandestine methods to acquire secret information for commercial advantage._"

Pritchard kept accusing pause.

"_Aka_ _stealing corporation's data, you idiot."_

Adam groaned mentally. Trust to Pritchard to use fancy words middle of the night.

"I haven't ordered any arrests."

"_Yet there she is now. So get moving_." Then he was off.

Now Adam saw that it was only a bit past 5.00 a.m.

"Pritchard, what the hell?" he groaned before rolling up and heading for shower. The boiler must have been broken again because there was not coming anything else than cold water. At least it woke him properly fast. He left a note about the problem on his way out of the building.

"Let me through!" yelled an angry voice.

"Mr. Pritchard, you can't go in there without authorization", another voice tried to reason.

"If being the head of network security is not authorization, then you are even more incompetent than I thought. Let. Me. Through!"

The door almost flew from its hinges when Pritchard finally stormed in. Deanna had never seen him so pissed off in his life. And she had never been so grateful to see that old bastard.

"Pritchard, get me out of here!"

"I am trying, so shut up. You're only making it worse."

"So are you, Pritchard. So calm down", Jensen said arriving only few moments after the older male. He saw Ronald Hull, his higher ranking security officer and a few of his underlings, a really pissed off Pritchard and cuffed Deanna, who seemed to have on only a t-shirt and semi long pants, made from a very thin material. Why the fuck they had fetched her middle of night?

"Jensen, if you suspect someone from my team, you could at least consult me first, because what is going on here is completely ridiculous. She can't be guilty." Pritchard snarled and turned his murdering aura towards others. "Only problem here is that you refuse to see it."

"But sir, we have solid evidence", Hull barked back. Pritchard had stepped on many toes and Ronald was one of them. It would have been underestimation to say he did not like the black haired male in front of him. Even loathing sounded too kind.

"Pritchard, please, try to calm down so that we can sort this out", Adam said. Things were really getting out of hand here.

Finally the tech expert took few long breaths. "That is the first thing. There is no way that some low class person could have caught her. She is way too smart for you. Last year she hacked our firewall in two weeks. It's a new record."

"She has a record of another kind as well. She crashed her school's computer system when she was 14", Hull yelled. This whole thing was getting his nerves. This was supposed to be an easy arrest and even easier confession. Nobody mentioned she would have Pritchard as her backup. When he first called for the tech, he thought it would make things easier as Pritchard was famous of his lack of sympathy towards anyone.

"It was an accident! I just wanted to see how they had built it. After that I learned how to _not_ crash it", Deanna said.

Her superior gave her an un-amused look. "Try not to make the situation any worse, would you?"

"Sorreh.." she muttered and shivered. She was freezing here. Why they hadn't they arrested her when she had been at work? At least she would have had warm clothes to wear. Trying to tug her legs under her did not work because of the smallness of the chair.

Adam noticed this and put his hand on Pritchard's shoulder. "I'm sure she appreciates your effort, but we have to search through this. But now she needs something warm or else she might get sick."

Pritchard had now closer look to Deanna. "Jesus Christ. Are they trying to kill her? Jensen, get her out of here."

"For once I agree with you."

"But, but sir..."

Jensen turned to face Hull. "This won't end here. With this I trust Pritchard's word. If he says that she's not the criminal, then I believe she shouldn't be treated like one. You should be ashamed of yourself for treating her so bad." True, Adam himself was not kindest person in the world, but at least he knew that a crime had been committed and who had done it.

"Jensen, get her to your room. I'm going to find out, who leaked us", Pritchard was now almost out of the room.

"Why not use your room? She's _your_ subordinate", he asked back.

"First, I need to work. Two, she's just been accused of stealing data. You seriously want to put her in my room?" Then he was away.

Adam sighed. This had not gone at all like he had planned. So he opened the handcuffs. "Are you all right? You're really pale", he asked her.

When she was free she hugged his torso. "Thank you Mr. Jensen. Thank you so much", she sniffed. She felt herself trembling in fear now that the situation was calming down. She was not sure what they might have done if allowed to continue.

Adam stroked her back. "It's fine now. Let's get you something to warm you up", he said and guided her out.

"Hull, we'll have a conversationin your room in few hours, so don't disappear", Adam said over his shoulder. Somebody would have lots of explaining to do about events that cost him his sleep.

Ronald flinched under his eyes. "Yes sir."

* * *

My apologies for long delay.

Special thanks for _CrimsonsNight_ for being my first reviewer. Virtual cookies for you^^ I promise that I try to keep Jensen in character as much as possible even it is challenging. I use cut-scenes from the game as source because they are most accurate. I have read the comics but Jensen there was a bit off and some points of plot were just stupid. I openly admit that my play-style quite icy but polite (to certain limit) minus one event, which I screwed up and went berserk after that. You know what I am talking about but we come back to that later.

Anyways, CrimsonsNight, thank you again, you are probably going to hate me at some points but hopefully there will be also sparks of joy.

PS. They have announced there will be a live action movie of DE:HR! How one person can be exited and worried about same thing at the same time?

Edit: Thank you CrimsonsNight for pointing out a confusion at one point. I cleared that out.


	4. Safe

Sorry folk that the story has been on hiatus so long. My beta went MIA and I heard recently they can't continue the job. So 1. This chapter is checked only with MS Word = errors in grammar and 2. is there anyone who would be interested in beta-reading? I have the whole story written and I'm doing re-writing but now _you _have possibility to impact to the story. Otherwise the story wild be on hiatus a lot longer, I'm afraid.

Edit. haha problem you G-ChanSanKun

Thank you for CrimsonsNight and TiraLu for reviewing. Writing Pritchard is easy, all I have to do is letting him say what I would want to say :D

Please, enjoy

* * *

**Safe**

Adam had put his jacket on her shoulders and turned the room's heater a few degrees higher before disappearing to search something better to warm her up. Deanna tried to pull the leather cloth as tight around her body as she could. She still felt chilled, but now she had her legs tucked safely under her on the couch of Jensen's office.

She blamed the adrenaline in her blood but she could not help but notice the smell of musk, tobacco and worn leather that surrounded her. It felt much safer than the empty and scentless interrogation room.

Opening the door made her jump on the arm of the couch. But it was only Jensen, who held something that looked like a blanket and a mug.

"Sorry, if I startled you," he said and put his belongings next to her. Deanna didn't want to give up the secure smelling jacket but it was his. So instead she wrapped the plain colored blanket around her. It must have been made of real wool, she realized as she felt how it pinched her skin.

"Mr. Jensen, why did they arrest me? I don't have done anything illegal. Frank and I have an agreement. He wouldn't set me up," she asked.

He looked at her behind his table. Now he finally had his chance to understand the cyber side a bit better. But he could not help but feel sympathy towards the woman sitting on his couch. He had seen many criminals in his life and this one was not one of them.

"What do you mean?"

Deanna took the mug he had offered. The aroma of hot chocolate filled her nostrils. Her hands felt icy against the hot mug. She took a gulp and shivered with delight when the hot liquid settled into her stomach.

"As you hear, I've a record. Not anything serious, but it's still there. I probably shouldn't say this but I am a hacker as much as a repairer or programmer. I came to work Sarif Industries after I ditched my uni studies. Pritchard had noticed when I had sniffed some minor security protocols out of my curiosity. I was disappointed when I didn't get past them at first try. So I tried couple of times. You can't believe how scared and surprised I was when I got his mail about a job offer," she said. Or better, come to work or prepare cops to fetch you.

It must have been a really fond memory for her, because she smiled for the first time.

"So I moved here and started my work. I've always loved to work with computers and other technical stuff. It's the best here because of the amount of available resources. Frank and I have a competition to see which one is better. I try to get past his security systems. It is a win-win situation. We both hone our skills and we also see possible loop holes in the security. I usually lose," she explained.

Adam noticed this as a positive boost to her confidence. She looked less pale and seemed to have her confidence back.

"So that is why Pritchard say you could not be the guilty one?" he asked.

Deanna's smile fell a little.

"I guess so. I mean, if I did something like that I would try to cover my trace a bit better. But it would be foolish, because we have Frank. And nobody fools him when it comes to computers," she said.

"Let's hope so and see that he clears you out. You've got to be something if he's ready to defend you so fiercely," Adam comforted her. Deanna gave him a half-hearted smile.

"I really hope so, because I like working here. And as hard it is to admit, some person are tolerable enough as well. Even if I usually have to fix what they break."

Adam had to chuckle as well.

"I can imagine."

Their moods lifted even more when Pritchard came in.

"Jensen, I've traced the guilty one. No data has been actually downloaded, merely tried. This time your men are free to do whatever they want. This is scandalous how bad of a job they did."

This earned a dry laugh from Deanna's place. Pritchard gave her another "are-you-serious" look. This time she did not care. Maybe it was the stress, or maybe it was relief that washed over her.

Adam nodded at him.

"As I said, somebody tried. But they left a hint of themselves, which I was able to trace. Seems like Regina will be finally backing her belongings," Pritchard said.

Adam expected a violent burst as most people reacted when they hear who had set them up. But Deanna just smiled from ear to ear.

"Francis, you can't believe how long I have waited to hear you say those words," she said and jumped to hug the man. The black-haired male was clearly not prepared for this and froze when he felt her arms wrap around him.

"There, there. You should sit down again and get some rest, you're clearly recovering from shock," he pushed her away from him. Adam gave him a knowing smile, which Pritchard returned with a 'go to hell, I don't have a heart to care about this pathetic creature'-look.

"Which reminds me- could somebody find a at least some kind of shoes? My legs are freezing," Deanna asked. She jumped back on the couch and wrapped the blanket tight around herself.

"Maybe there is something suitable at the lab-side. I call them and ask if they have something," Adam said.

"That would be nice. If I had some footwear I can go to my working station and put on overalls. Wearing just my t-shirt is slightly disturbing," she said.

"As if somebody would notice it. You're flat as a board," Pritchard snickered.

"You're just jealous mine are smaller than yours. Not that I mind. Life's much easier without those fatbags," she smiled back. Adam felt something unpleasant stir inside him as he tried to push the mental image away.

"Could you two just shut up? That's just disturbing," he asked.

"For once I agree with you. Roomba, you have few days off. _And I don't want to see even a glimpse of you,_" he stressed the last sentence.

"It depends. Though, I still have lots of things to do," she answered. She was thankful of the verbal sparring Pritchard had offered. It made her much better to do familiar things.

An idea to go back to home disturbed her, however. That place had been violated when security had raided it and she doubted she could feel herself safe enough there. And there was no way she would sleep in her bedroom before she purchased a sturdier door!

"No. If I have even slightest wind you're here I'll freeze your ID and passwords," Pritchard answered.

"But, but I feel fine enough," she prayed. She did not want to admit it but she would rather be at work than alone home.

"Sorry Roomba, but I can't help it. There are certain regulations I have to follow," Pritchard said and marched out.

"Like that would have slowed you down before!" Deanna screamed behind him. Adam felt bad for her. She looked again like a puppy that had been kicked.

"Don't you have a friend who could be with you? It's better than being completely alone," he asked. Deanna shook her head.

"They aren't available. I'll search a hotel and stay there a while. Few days and I'm back to normal," she said with smile.

There was a knock at the door.

"Mr. Jensen, you requested some clothes?" a short woman asked. She had neat pile of clothes with sneakers on it. She gave a suspicious look at Deanna, who returned with a dazzling fake smile.

"Yes please. You can leave them on the couch," he answered and nodded towards the piece of furniture.

"Just remember to return them to laboratory side. There are appointed place to used clothes," she said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Deanna said. The lab worker was not even out of the room before she had put the pants on. Next one was the top but when she stretched, the hit she had received earlier reminded its existence. She gasped and doubled over a bit. Adam noticed and crouched next to the couch.

"Are you hurt somewhere?"

"I think I've a small bruise on my stomach," Deanna answered. She straightened herself slowly. There was no pain so she suspected it was nothing too severe.

"Could I see it? If it looks serious, you'll have to go see a doctor," Adam requested. Deanna looked unsure. An idea of showing her belly to someone whether as a professional or not, was not very appealing. She swallowed hard.

"I don't think it is that bad. It's just small bruising."

"Deanna, please. It might not be much, but if Hull acted unprofessionally, I'll have to have proof of it,"

Adam persisted. He looked straight to her eyes, asking her co-operation. He thought a moment should he also take her hand, but decided better of that. Then he noticed small bruises along her chin. Anger started to grow inside him. Hull had really stepped over boundaries this time.

Deanna bit her lip. She wanted to flee to her hole, where she would be safe. All this hustling around drained her emotionally. She lifted her shirt that Jensen could see the damaged area.

Her soft skin had slightly darker color. Now it was barely a size of a ping pong ball but Adam suspected it would grow a little from there. Nothing seemed swollen, so nothing critical had been damaged. Adam rose and sat in front of his computer. Meanwhile Deanna put the shirt on, slowly.

"Once we have the main ordeal over, you can fill an official complain about Hull. It might not be much, but if similar situations would happen in the future, then it would be useful. But it is completely optional. I'm going to discuss with him anyway," he said and typed something down.

"Do I really have to? I hate paperwork," Deanna asked.

"Don't worry. We have plenty of existing templates. You wouldn't believe how much people have to bitch. Just fill the assigned placed and only I have an access to it," Adam answered.

That eased her mind a little.

"Am I free to go already?" she asked.

"Sorry, but no until this is case is six feet under. Until then, you're better to stay here."

"With another bunch of high security level computer stuff? You guys really believe in my innocence."

Adam looked at her sharply. Okay, wrong joke at wrong time. Way to go girl, she slapped herself mentally.

"Should I lock you up to our less comfortable rooms? I guarantee that finding one is not an issue," Adam said with a hint of a humor in his voice.

"Naw, I'm fine. Besides, your couch is quite comfy. I wish I had one in my room," Deanna muttered. Adam found himself smiling to that pouting face so he quickly hid behind his screens.

"I'll have to go now. I lock the door, but have no doubts you would open it in seconds. But for your own good, don't touch it. Or the computers," he said. Deanna sighed. Even thinking about that made her bored.

"Guess I can't help it. I'll just sit here like a dog and wait," she answered.

"Good girl," Adam said back.

After Jensen had left his room there was only silence. Deanna felt herself grow restless as she tried listening to sounds outside the office. More and more people passed by the office. The room was soundproofed well and not a single thing was audible.

Soft hum of electricity tempted her to sit in front of the machine. She could see that Jensen had a security control screen next to his regular computer. To disturb her train of thought she scanned through his shelves for something not incriminating to read. There were some magazines, which were at least couple months old.

"Somehow I doubt he reads these," she thought aloud. She also had no interest in the gossip magazines and left them on the seat. The coffee table next to the door provided her better results. Most books were about law, security and, surprisingly, psychology. Deanna snorted when she put the book back to its place. That was certainly not her cup of tea.

She was rewarded with the few last books of the pile.

"Basic IT-dictionary. Well I guess you need one when working with Pritchard," she muttered. Last one was aboutbasic mechanics. This interested her as the book seemed well read. Pages were wrinkled and there were stains here and there. Also neat handwriting was written to the margins making remarks about the text.

Deanna sat back on the couch. Some info was out of date but most parts were accurate. Also who ever had done the notes seemed to know what they were doing, suggesting some alternations. Finally her mind had settled enough to let her body relax. After a while she had fallen asleep on the couch. The old book lied next to it, where she had set it.

Adam had temporarily forgotten that he had a prisoner in his office. After having a 'nice' chat with Hull about how they treated people under arrest, he still had couple things to do, like arranging the arrest of the real culprit. This part had been easy as she was dumb enough to come to work and not vanish.

So it was only when he was returning to his office he remembered that Deanna was supposed to be there.

"I hope she's still there," he muttered aloud. He entered his door code. At first he thought she really had left but soft snoring proved him wrong. She had fallen asleep into a really uncomfortable pose and Adam did not doubt she would have an aching neck when she woke up. He noticed a book lying next to the couch. He lifted it up and put back on the table. He nudged Deanna's shoulder gently.

"Miss Greylake, wake up."

After a few shoves he got a reaction. She jumped backwards and delivered a blind kick to his lower stomach. It stung but wasn't severe. Adam grunted and covered the area with his hand. Deanna seemed to wake up now completely.

"What is? Oh God, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" she asked, concerned. Adam straightened up.

"It's my own fault. You've been through a lot lately. I should be the one apologizing for scaring you. I came to say that you're free to go."

Deanna's eyes lit up.

"Thank you so much. Did you also collect Regina?"

"She was handed over to police to answer her crimes. She won't be bugging you anytime soon," Adam reassured. His phrasing made Deanna grin.

"Did I say something funny?" he asked.

"I just thought that bugging is just so fitting. But now I have to go," Deanna said and put the sneakers on her feet. She was almost out of the room when she looked back over her shoulder.

"Thank you Mr Jensen. I doubt that someone else would have believed Pritchard. You really saved me there," she said.

"I was only doing my job. Nothing special," he denied. Deanna shook her head.

"No, there is a difference between duty and do what you feel is right. I'm glad it was for my benefit this time."

Adam wondered had he really acted like that. No, he simply did what was expected. He shook his head and sat before his computer.


	5. Prelude

Hello hons!

* * *

**Prelude  
**  
Hotel room where she resided was really plain. Ugly, sickly pale blue wallpapers, and a too soft bed with too hard pillow. The furniture looked like cheap replicas of fancier ones and ready to fall apart any given moment. But it was still better than staying in her apartment.

After leaving Sarif Industries Deannahad gone straight to her apartment and packed all her necessities. Clothes, hygiene products, laptop (morons, they seriously had not taken that with them?), other gadgets and things that she thought she would need. She also straightened out her things.

"Fucking idiots, they should at least clean what they mess", she cursed. Also her broken door haunted her mind. She had informed her janitor, Cheryl about that. Middle aged female had promised to order a new one. She had laughed at Deanna's order to send the bill to Sarif Industries security department. Deanna had repeated that few times, which had assured Cheryl that she was dead serious. It was originally Pritchard's idea, which he informed that Jensen had already approved it. Deanna was really happy about that.

She had not much to do. All she could do was trying to improve the AI of her robots. It did not satisfy her long as she had no way test it in practice. If she had nothing to do with her hands, she crew bored pretty soon. After her second day she begged Pritchard to take her back. His answer had been firm prohibition and guaranteed that if she would contact him again during remaining few days, she would receive Regina's now open position, which had made her bitch more.

Lobo was busy working so he had no time to talk with her. Deanna wondered if she should by a metro ticket and drive around to pass time. She then dismissed the idea as needing too much effort. Also an idea being around people made her grimace.

The accident had done her something else as well. It had made her jumpy. She could not sleep well and woke up many times during nights. She watched and listen her hotel room's door like a hawk. It was slowly getting her nerves as her rational side said it was stupid.

Frustrated she searched if there was club or something where she would learn to defend herself. The feeling that things were out of her hand had scared her pretty bad. Couple placed looked interesting enough and they were focused to self-defence. No way she would not become Chuck Norris and Chakie Chan, but basic knowledge would hopefully be enough that she would not completely freeze.

_Couple days later_

Adam entered his office and noticed fresh scent of coffee. A take-away cup sat on his desk with a piece of paper under it and milk and sugar packets next to it.

_Thank you_

He was not completely sure should he be amused or annoyed. Somebody had been his room and not too long ago, because the coffee was still steaming. On the other hand, it was nice and technically, everyone with code had access to the office every day. Which meant cleaners, it-department, his own department. Thought, Adam did not have to guess many times, who the culprit was.

He shook his head. But genuineness of the act spoke better. It felt really good to be rewarded like that. Adam amused himself with a thought that she had won a way into his heart. At least she was much more pleasant to talk than Pritchard.

Adam added a mall drop of milk to break of strongest bitterness. When he tasted the coffee, he almost sighed out of happiness. It was really excellent dark roast. It could be explained that it was bought outside the company's cafeteria. How Deanna had know to get this kind of coffee?

He sat down to check where to start. Press conference was only few days ahead and he had still plenty of things to do.

It was good to be back at work. She avoided Hull best she could but at least the feeling seemed to be mutual. Working at labs now she did not run into him too often. She and and few other guys were setting up some equipments with the scientists. She had barely any time to see her usual partner in crime.

Lunch was important even when they both hated how the cafeteria area was buzzing with laugh, cries and talk. Like the discussion behind her. It required so much that she and Lobo would not burst into laugh any given moment.

"I can't understand how some people can twirl around the computers all the day. I called support one day when my handheld would turn on and they said I should open bios. What I would do with somebody biography? I rather shop and check out men."

"There you're totally right. Francis is so hot but too bad he's such a jerk. Must be because his so into computers."

This actually almost revealed them. Deanna bit her fist not to laugh out loud. Lobo was not doing much better.

"How about Adam? He's not that bad and I heard he broke up with Reed."

"Sis, where you have been? It was couple weeks ago and Reed broke up with him."

"So he's a man needing a bit comf- Oh, there he comes."

Deanna turned her gaze as well. True enough, Jensen walked with couple other person, who seemed like some ones from his department. Both were tall and heavier side build. You really did not want to mess with them.

She wondered if he had liked her gift. At least he had not searched and arrested her right away, so maybe they were now even. Sure, she could have just bought it but she had no idea when she would see him.

Doctor Reed had happily told her what coffee he liked when Deanna had explained what had happened. The blond woman found the scientist a little disturbing by how coolly she had taken the whole breakup thing. Jaz said she found it weird as they had been together really long time. Adam certainly had taken it rather heavily, even when not admitting it.

"You're still here girl? You look almost as bad as those girls there", Lobo said and nodded towards the table next to them. Deanna looked behind her and grimaced. The few females tried their best to make sure their hair and clothes were on the right places.

"So am not", she said.

"So are", the Hispanic male answered and flicked imagine tear away.,

"Our little ice queen has finally her eyes on someone. I'm so touched."

"Shut the fuck up", Deanna hissed,

"It's just Jensen helped me out of that Regina mess. If he had not come, Frank would have blown the whole thing."

"So that's the story behind it. There are some gossips going on how she ended up expelled and arrested", Lobo muttered.

"Yes, nobody cares about the original victim", Deanna muttered sarcastically.

"Not like you would do a number of it, which is really good. Regina was way too dramatic. I've heard that couple other people complained about her. Pritchard was about to give her boot anyway."

"And somehow I never get to hear about that. It's nice to live in the cellar."

"Stop complaining about that damn place. We all know that you enjoy being there. You only complained so Reg would keep you there", Lobo snickered. Deanna was about to reach out and strange the man. However, a new, really loud and cheerful noise interrupted them.

"Hello my fave nerds. What brings you outside your nests?"

Wilhelmina, or Willy, could have been candidate of most annoying personality in world. No matter what, she would always have smile on her thin lips. She worked under security department and handled parts of the recruiting, basic and advanced melee training. Now the strawberry blond woman sat so close that Deanna dragged her seat a bit away from her.

"Food. Don't you know that we need that kind of a thing?" she asked.

"No. I always figured that you would just pull a plug out of you and plug it in", Willy said and started to much her meal. The serving of salad, potatoes and something that seemed somewhat like minced meat beefs looked huge compared to Deanna's sandwiches. Willy used more energy in her daily routine.

Not too long after that also some other people joined their table. Lobo looked at Deanna.

"Since when did nerds become this popular?"

"Since then when my awesomeness started to pull towards you", Willy said. The man sitting next to her snorted.

"As if. Only reason I would sit next to Willy would be a grave situation, which the lack of open seats now is."

He earned a small tug to his ribs.

"Shut up Tristan. Only reason that you groin is safe is that there isn't anything important. We both know who the boss is when we spar."

Others chuckled at that. Deanna felt a bit of envy gnaw her. Willy was really popular because of humorous attitude and quick-witted comebacks. No matter what, she seemed to be able to turn even the worst situation around. Deanna wished she could be even a bit more like her. But Willy's simple and warm personality made it almost impossible to not like her.

"Willy, what would be good place to learn some self-defense?" the younger female asked. Willy looked at her in surprise.

"Since when you wanted do something physical? I've tried to get you exercise for ages."

"Since your department raided my apartment", Deanna answered cynically.

"Oh right, that one. Shitty things and overkill, I say. I don't get what the hell Hull was thinking there. Well, if you want to learn some practical self-defense, I'd suggest Krav maga or if you don't feel so physical, then Defendo. Too many people think that when they know a karate chop they are able to take care of themselves", Willy answered and shook her head. Even if most of her students had previous martial arts background, she wiped the floor with them.

"But I warn you, it takes more than one night to be able to use the training in practice."

"I know, but the sooner I start, then the sooner the means to defend myself", Deanna answered. Willy smiled at her.

"That's my girl. I've always known that you have some backbone. Personally, I'd like to teach those secretary ladies what real workout means", Willy laughed and patted Deanna's shoulder.

"I'm lucky enough if I won't end up to those lessons", she answered. Lobo interrupted them

"Roomba, it's time to go back to work. I want to see if my hypothesis about that algorithm was right."

Deanna nodded and rose from her seat.

"Oh, and Deanna. Best rule is always to run and hide if you've an opportunity", Willy said.  
She was not sure if the older woman was mocking her but she saw a rare moment of seriousness on the trainer's face.

* * *

Again, hope you enjoyed. I see if people keep reading this and statistics make me happy.

Cheers, see ya!

Edit 8.1.2013: Finally making that update to spell checked version


	6. Somewhat buddies

**Somewhat buddies**

"You could at least close your window when you're with whores, Jensen!"

"You sound almost like Pritchard. Are you maybe jealous that I'm not paying you same kind of attention", he yelled upwards and took long inhale from a cigarette.

Adam's head was still throbbing nastily from previous night's drinking. He had probably ended up with that hooker because of that. When the man stretched his memory, he remembered long, brown hair and soft lips. Then rest of the night was blurry. Something he did not think too highly. The man had noticed growth in his alcohol consumption, which at the current level would be considered unhealthy. Not that he would admit it to anyone.

He heard a dry laugh above him.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in man-whores. And I only sound like Pritchard because now I know why he hates you so much. Honestly, first your department ruins my first home and at the current moment you're personally trying to destroy the present one", she barked back. Actually, Deanna had no idea why her boss hated the security chief so much. Was it because their egos did not simply fit into the same room?

Adam had been surprised when he had first encountered the blond woman. At least she was not a heavy pacer.

"_Are you visiting someone", Adam asked. He had just stepped out from the elevator. Deanna shook her head_.

"_I_ live_ here. I moved in couple days ago", she answered. It was again Frank's aid after she had complained about how hard finding a nice and cheap apartment was. Deanna suspected it was another blow towards Adam and his department. _

_She noticed that he had only short sleeved shirt and jogging pants on. His body build didn't look bad at all. Too bad he was wearing shades. She liked his eye color. _

_'_Stop right there, girl. You're not checking him out_', she smacked herself mentally. _

_"I'm sorry to hear that. The door was not to your liking?" Adam asked. Deanna had to give laugh at that. So he remembered. And he had nice sense of humor. _

_"The door was fine, thanks. The place just didn't feel right anymore", she shrugged her shoulders:_

_"But you're clearly going somewhere, so I'm not holding you back. Cheers."_

_She said and waved her hand as a good-bye._

"Fucking hell!"

The fire escape shook slightly due Deanna's sudden movement. Her string of curses faded into acid muttering.

"You gotta problem up there?" he asked. His cigarette was almost finished so he flicked it to the alley under them. He looked up but was only able to see a big blanket spread out. Around the building was the cramped view of Detroit. For being almost downtown, it was a lazy day. A car drove past now and then.

"Left just some skin between cogwheels, nothing major."

This picked up his interest.

"Cogwheels, you say. What are you actually doing?"

"Well, you've got legs, so if you're interested move your ass."

Foul mouthed as ever. Nevertheless, he rose and climbed the steps.

"Isn't it a bit of a hazard to have small screws out in the open?"

"It's too hot inside. And I see better here", was her plain answer.

It was a hot late afternoon. Adam had only a sleeveless shirt and shorts on. Deanna had settled with loose, light colored t-shirt and baggy pants. A large Stetson hat protected her eyes from the sun. Between her legs rested something, which seemed to have four legs and lots of wires spreading into every direction.

"What is that?"

"Pritchard's birthday present. Lately he has been nagging me so much that I decided to give him something that barks back", Deanna said. She lifted the thing and turned it around. True enough, the frame resembled a mammal with body and four legs. Copper and brass gleamed when light hit it.

Adam lifted his eyebrow. He started to like the female more now compared to previous nagging.

"You've an odd sense of humor."

Deanna paused in her work and looked at where she expected his gaze be. Damned shades.

"What humor? Haven't you heard enough horror stories at work to know that I don't have a sense of humor? Besides, I'm drop dead serious. If you didn't know, the only reason why Pritchard never leaves his office is that he doesn't have to. He's a nearly 500 year-old vampire and only drinks the blood of male prostitutes, which he requires every few weeks. So if I was you, I'd stay away from his office outside working hours."

She said it such a convincing voice that Adam almost believed it. Then his sobering up brains picked her insult.

"Ha ha, funny" he grunted and continued,

"You'd make a good poker player."

"No, I wouldn't. And I only play when I know I'll win", Deanna tried her best to not to laugh. It was still annoying to choose boiling yourself alive or listening to two persons trying to do something shady. Not that she would tell Adam that he had actually kicked the lady-friend out when he clearly did not remember it.

"How long you have been building it?" Adam asked.

"Few days. It'll still take some time and after that I have to program her."

"So you're a mechanic as well as a hacker. Is there something you're not able to do?" Adam asked and sat next to her. He picked up the head and examined it. The motor was already fastened to the frame she seemed to be wiring limbs.

"No, I don't suffer from Barbie-syndrome, if you meant that. Actually I'm quite far from it. How about I can't run a marathon, perform a brain surgery or give public speeches? Oh, and despite my mothers best efforts, the food I make is only somewhat edible", she offered.

"Fair enough", Adam agreed,

"You're doing pretty good work here. Shame that you don't have any good covers for it."

"Yeah. But I cover it with I can and make it look like steam punk. Then I can leave the wires visible and actually add some cogwheels", Deanna explained. Adam nodded.

"Sounds cool. I still prefer pure mechanics over programming."

Deanna snorted. She patted the metal creature fondly.

"You gotta be kidding me. Programming is easiest part of this. I've a few rather nice protocols waiting for this beauty."

"It might be when you're doing the building like that", Adam laughed back.

"Am not. I've been building these things quite a while now, thank you."

"Yes you are. Wire that part", he said and pointed wires next to the first front leg:

"And put them here instead of there."

Deanna looked at the robot in her hands and the security chief.

"Well aren't you actually good at something", she thought out aloud. Adam started to understand why people seemed to dislike her. One had to listen to Deanna's tone instead of words she spoke. She also had toothy grin.

"I have played with mechanics since I was a kid, so I'd better be", Adam replied.

Deanna pursed her lips.

"So was it your book, which I was reading in your office?" she asked.

"It was originally my father's and notes are also his handwriting", Adam explained. He replaced few wires to better positions.

"Wow. Your father is a smart guy."

"Yes. He's a really nice man. Not your typical white collar worker but not one of those army fathers you hear horror stories, either. When he was at home he spent hours in his garage. Usually it was my next Christmas or birthday present", Adam said.

"I wish I would have been as lucky. All I got was supermarket dolls with huge heads", Deanna said.

Before they even noticed sun had almost vanished to the horizon. They talked about everything about mechanics. Deanna also tried to explain something about computers.

"It would be so much easier with something to show along with the talk. With computers you can't learn just by reading the theory part", she sighed.

Adam remembered something that had puzzled him a while.

"You said that you've been working over half a decade in Sarif Industries. How come I've never seen you around the six months I've been here?"

Deanna arched an eyebrow.

"You're talking about my eye, aren't ya? I know it's not most unnoticeable thing in the world.

"And I'm quite sure that if you checked my history, you'd see that I was located on another plant some time. I only got my office back not too much before we met", she explained.

"Doesn't explain how so many hate you", Adam mused. Deanna gave a throaty laughter.

"You see, I've a reputation. Try to imagine how many people hate the fact me for what I am. Even I wasn't there, the stories still were. I work closely and relatively well with Frank and that irks people. They come up with stuff because they can't bad mouth otherwise. For them it seems that I've got most things for free. Boy they're wrong."

"Then what it takes to be a computer and hacker prodigy?" This started to be more and more interesting from Adam's point of view.

"I'm not sure if that is praise or mockery. I'm not prodigy. Only a person, who enjoys more about the intelligent company of computer than drunken teens", she shrugged her shoulders.

"And you? Sarif's catch that drives my boss crazy and rest of us along the way."

"Must have been your drunken teen because I enjoyed partying far more than studying. Still managed to get decent grades and graduated from university, straight to work in here, Detroit. Nothing too special but after some time made it to SWAT unit. I quit that job when I couldn't face the bullshit going around. After I had been some time unemployed David made his offer", Adam briefed her. He started to long for another smoke.

"Nice", Deanna nodded her head. She let out a cry of victory.

"Finally done. Thanks for help. It turned out better than I expected. And much faster", Deanna smiled. Adam nodded and stood.

"It was nice to help you. For person building robots seemingly long time, you certainly suck in it", he grinned down at her. Deanna put up the sunniest smile she managed and showed him her middle finger.

"I love you too, Jensen."

* * *

Yey, they have a common interest^^ And somewhat friendship.

And I'm finally getting to actual game events. Or at least prologue part where Sarif Industries are raided. Wheee. Then I'm getting to angry Adam. Double wheee. If you have any questions/comments you want to share don't hesitate to post them. I'd still like to know what kind of music you imagine fitting well with the story or chapters.

Edit 8.1.2013: Spell checked version up


	7. Discord

**Discord**

When alarms went off, Deanna first thought it was a false alarm. The backup system was recently installed so it was vulnerable to malfunctions and had proved that several times last week.

"_People around laboratory subsection 6, this is not rehearsal-"_

Pritchard's voice faded as emergency speakers were silenced.

"Oh this is not good", she mumbled. Nothing was supposed to silence emergency speakers. If main power source or cable went off, backup or back-backup were supposed to do the job.

Deanna knew that she was relatively safe, on the cellar floor where they kept their servers. So she was way under the laboratories.

Then she felt the whole building shake when something exploded above her head. She checked her cell phone but saw that it didn't have signal either. Something had gone wrong with testing?

"That's weird."

Her train of thought was disturbed when she heard somebody screaming outside the server room. It was silenced with a sickening gunshot.

Panic hit her. All too familiar lurching of stomach, quickened pulse. Even the damned shaking of hands. There was no environmental malfunction. They were under attack! They were outside, with guns. She was alone, with nothing. Her rational mind soon fought its way back to gain at least temporary control. What Willy would do, she tried to remember.

_Panic is what kills you. You just panic and make a mistake. Take deep breaths and look around you. When there's-_

When there's what? Item, weapon or birthday cake? Okay, where the heck did that last one come?

She pinched herself to concentrate again. Server rooms were plain, mostly huge racks with kilometers worth of cable. There was nowhere to hide or escape. Air ventilation was near ceiling and she had no way to climb there.

Steps stopped outside the room. Her heart nearly stopped when she sprinted behind the door.

"Please don't open it. Please don't open it", she prayed silently. Maybe it was the lack of faith but her prays were not answered. The door opened, thankfully not fully, as she would have been squashed between it and the wall. Then whoever was coming would have noticed her.

The technician felt her hands tremble with fear. Memories from her 'arrest' returned and for a moment she froze. Not as bad though as back then. Adrenaline filled her blood vessel and she could hear her heart drumming her ears. Her instincts were sending mixed signals, part was telling to flee right away. The other half wanted to stay on that exact place and maybe the threat would not notice her.

Somebody walked in. He did not look behind the door, thankfully, as not expecting anybody be there. All his features were covered with armor. Deanna bit her lip as the enemy marched behind the racks. She tried to step as quietly as she could. There were no other people on the hall so she kicked her sneakers off and continued with just her socks on.

The next hall was not as pretty. There were several bodies, both shot and thrown to wall organs crushed. Deanna swallowed hard when she noticed familiar face along them. Bill was a nice guy, chatting how he worked hard that his wife and two sons wouldn't have to worry about anything.

She looked carefully where to step in order not to land on blood. A new feeling filled her inside out. It was cold blooded rage. She wanted to kill that bastard. Kill every one of those who had attacked this peaceful world. Reality smacked her hard on the face. What could she do against people who were probably augmented? They did not have security bots in the build, which was bad.

She visualized blueprints of the building in her head. If she wanted to get out, her best chance would be getting to one of the emergency exits. Only problem was, it was at the main floor, above her head. She was opposite side of the building from her room so she had no reason to get there.

Taking a deep breath she peaked around the next corner. Route was clear so she advanced as fast as she dared. Far away somebody was running and screaming loudly.

"No, please, don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"

"Run, you stupid bitch! Do you think that you hide from me?"

Deanna looked quickly around. Few meters away she saw a ventilation cover. They were usually loose as nobody found them enough security-risk inside the building and at times people had to crawl there to check cables. Now they saved her life. She had barely crawled in and put the grill back down when the steps turned around the corner. Somebody fired a gun far away.

Whoever was shot was still alive. They wailed for mercy when other steps arrived closer. Deanna bit her hand to stay quiet. Shivers ran through her body when she waited in dim light and wished nobody to be smart enough to empty a magazine on the vents. A gunshot near startled her and Deanna tasted blood on her tongue.

After long silence the pair of heterochromic eyes peeked through the grill. She could see nobody so she lifted it up and moved down the hall. Walls around here were filled with bullet holes. She wondered if she should just stay in the vent. But if somebody were to trigger a grenade, it would be her end. There was no safe place inside the building she could hide.

She did not realize that half of this was just panic talk. All her instincts told her to get away from danger. Deanna hoped that Lobo was all right. He was supposed to be other side of the building but you could not be sure with the silenced radio frequencies. Willy was probably hurrying back to the building, kicking any ass getting in her way.

With a few corners behind her, she finally had grasp of where she was. These corridors were used mainly as storerooms. Most doors had been kicked open and whatever had been inside demolished. Her heart flattened when saw all the microchips and hard drives stamped.

"Hey you! Stop right there!"

Deanna did not bother to look behind her back. Her legs exploded into a run as she fled through the corridor. She knew the layout of the building and her build was much lighter than her chaser's but he was a trained soldier. No matter how fast she tried to run, the steps behind her grow closer. Her throat burned. She could not breathe properly.

_That's what you get for hating running_, she thought bitterly.

The soldier behind her tackled her to ground. She thrashed around and tried to scratch his face. One punch hit pretty good, square to his nose to daze him temporarily. Deanna did not waste time but exploded back toher feet.

"Fugin' bidch. Dish will deach you", he growled and jumped after her. Later that day his friends would laugh at him for getting his broken nose in a low threat area.

When he caught her again, it was this time backside of her shirt. With supreme power he hurled her against rack that held electric equipments. The heavy stand fell backwards taking Deanna with it. Her side hurt like hell and all she could do was gasp for air. She would have wanted to curse him but she could not make a sound.

The soldier above her seemed to have an idea. Next to them was a bit smaller shelf. It would not take much to angle it so that it would fall on her if pushed down. She tried to understand what he was doing. Why he had not shot her right away. Was that man going to rape her and then kill her? She tried to move away but her muscles were too weak. Her arms trembled so much she couldn't take grasp and her legs pulsed unpleasantly. Fear and anger mixed in her mind.

"Enjoy your trip to hell."

The voice was coming somewhere far away. She saw something dark falling towards her. All she had time to do was cover her head and hope for the best. Maybe this was just a game and she would re-spawn at latest save point?

Pain, burning pain was everywhere. It increased every second and made Deanna weep. She tried to open her eyes but her lids felt too heavy. It was hard to tell did she want to go back to sleep to get rid of pain or get rid of the pain to be able to go back to sleep.

"Oliver, she's waking up! Toss me sedatives!"

"Fasten her first. Otherwise she'll bleed to death."

_Flee! It's your only chance to survive,_ was what her brain told her. She tried to move her hand, only feeling pain and restriction.

A burning sensation crept up her hand. She screamed. They were not going to have her. She had to survive.

"Poor girl. It's a shame that her luck is that so many others receiving severe traumas died there. Those augmented people are monsters. The place was a slaughter house."

_No, it was not the augmentation. I'm human, aren't I_, she wanted to ask. But burning had spread out and lulled her back to the sleep.

* * *

A/N Sorry about the long pause with updates. This is first one of the two updates I promised myself to do during November. I'm currently busy equally with work and NaNoWriMo x_x. I might end up editing Harmony chapters if I feel my brains suffering from writer's blog.

By the way, if you are active writer try out Scrivener. I've been using it now about a month and have absolutely fallen in love with. Definitely going to by it after nano-trial is over.

Edit 8.1.2013


	8. Embark

**Embark**

"That's very good Mr. Jensen. You have recovered faster than we expected", Olivia, his therapist, smiled at him encouragingly .

'Then why does it still feel so fucking hard', he wanted to ask her. This whole ordeal, which David had caused him, had it really been worth it? He looked at his familiar yet so strange fingers. He had somewhat feeling in them, like if his hands had fallen asleep and were somewhere between waking up and sleeping. Was it supposed to be normal? What was normal anymore?

"Just one more set and we are done for the day. Few more days and you are ready to leave, I believe", Olivia continued. Mediterranean skinned woman had a smile that wanted to see good in every single thing in the world. Adam bet she would have felt different if her limbs had been chopped off. She did not not seem to have any augmentation, visible at least.

But now he was supposed to be a good boy and do as was told. He wrapped alien fingers around soft therapy ball and squeezed it. He watched how the ball would expand between fingers as he ordered the hand open and close the fingers. He refused to call them _his_ fingers. Yes, he had somewhat feeling what he touched. Yes, those blasted things were attached to his torso. But he had never asked for this.

Every fucking day he had to relearn how to do things he had known year. Simplest ones were curling toes and fingers, rolling wrists and ankles, bending knees and elbows. He had to even learn to see again. It really took a toll on his bride when he had been first time able to eat on his own and they had _congratulated_ him from that.

Now his vision presented him much more information like people around him. But most time it just messed up his brain and caused him headache. If he had problem with symmetrical view, how on earth that blond tech woman managed with one augmented eye?

Was Sarah even alive? David kept any casualty numbers in dark from him, saying that he was supposed to get better and not to worry about work. Bullshit. Neither did Adam believe that Pritchard would be overjoyed if he contacted the man. She might had as well be dead, just like everybody else. Another mark to his bed post.

"That's enough Mr. Jensen", Olivia interrupted his thoughts. Only now he noticed that he had actually broken the ball's surface. White polyester spread outside the ball, mocking him.

"Sorry", he muttered. He should had have better control over himself.

"That's all right. It happens all the time for people freshly augmented. Feeling and therefore better interaction with the environment, will return during time when scarred tissue is healed. When there is more feedback motor control over augmentation grows better", Olivia explained.

'That just helped so much' he thought. He was a freak of nature. At least now he was able to move around with sticks. It was a huge liberation compared to few weeks he just had to lay in bed with just with his thoughts. At that point he had been really thought about wrapping sheets around his neck and falling down. That might had been enough to strangle him. People were able to hang themselves to doorhandles, after all.

David had visited him but he was busy trying to get everything back in order and running. They had had short chat what he had gone through. Adam was not too sure what he was supposed to think about that.

_"Adam, I know it might feel hard, but it's for your own good. You would have died without those augs. You're more than before."_

_"While you put a bit extra in as well", he growled back. He would have liked to see his boss face but his head felt too heavy. So instead Adam just stared into the ceiling. _

_Older male flinched. Did Adam know he had ordered the removals? He could not, because he was not supposed to get a hold to those records._

"_I don't now what you're talking about?" he answered casually._

"_The infolink, for example. A Typhoon-system?"_

_So he was only worried about those. David found himself being on clearer waters. _

_Seeing his security chief laying there, David wished he could tell about to source of miracles that lied in Adam's DNA. What glorious future it would bring. No fragile bones, no rotting flesh. Adam would not understand why he had to do it. Not yet. They all would learn why augmentations were the future of the humanity._

_"You were not supposed to hear about that, at least until later", he frowned slightly. Did the nurses gossip so openly around the patients or how he had heard about it. _

_"It's rather hard not to notice the holes on my chest. Why the hell did you do that? Tell me, boss."_

_"I need you Adam. You're my best man. I need you alive. It's for the best of us all."_

Oh yes, how much they depend on him. It both amazed and disgusted him. He was nothing more but a machine to do as Sarif said.

_Few days later_

Adam entered his apartment with sigh. Immediately he tossed crutches away as they would have burned his hands. It shamed that he had to depend on them so hard.

It felt great to be away from the LIMB-clinic. He staggered at his bar and uncorked his precious bottle of bourbon. First shot he drained raw and shuddered with pleasure when familiar burning washed over his mouth and throat. Second glass he filled almost full and settled down on his couch.

Around him everything was a mess. After he had moved away from Megan's place he had never quite finished unpacking his things. Full, half-empty and empty cardboard boxes lied across the floor.

He also noticed that he was not able to access Sarif Industries network from him computer. So all he was left was regular net with regular stuff. He also missed Kubrick. Diane was a good hearted woman and putting the dog down pained her. As much as he hated to admit it, Adam had to admit she did the best she was able to. Nobody knew if he would ever wake up.

His phone alarmed that he had received a text.

_Hello handsome \_(^▽^)/

_A little bird sang that you're finally out of the clinic. You'll have this week to take easy, but next week we're going to celebrate the recovery and get hammered? _八(^□^)

_And don't try to say you don't have time 'cause we both know you'd be talking bullshit _(^_-)

_With love, Willy_

He shook his head with dry amusement. This woman was supposed to be older than him? Maybe if he did not answer the text, she would leave him eventually alone. Then he thought again. If he would not answer, the older female would pester him as long as he would give in and if going to extreme, would bang his door down to drag him out.

So he plainly closed the device not to receive any texts. Now he had no desire to be in contact with anyone. He was ashamed how he looked. After first time traveling to bathroom he had crushed his mirror, not caring to see himself like that every time he pissed.

Yes, his life was fucking awesome. He searched his cigarette case and tossed it away cursing. He had not noticed that there was none left. How could he not see it when he smoked the last one? So back down again and to nearest store buy some more. At the same trip he could at least buy something to eat.

"Bye Mrs. Goodwin. Same time next week", Deanna chirped with cheerful voice. She was happy that she was allowed to go back to work. She missed talking with Lobo and clashing virtual sabers with Pritchard. Or in general, arguing with anyone available.

At her way to back to home she visited grocery store. She didn't have to buy much, just some juice and bread. When she was paying her purchases, her phone alerted that somebody was trying to reach her. First she tried to tap her comlink but remembered leaving it to her apartment. She fished her cell out of her pocket. It was Lobo.

"Yeah?"

"Hey girl, rumors are true and you'll be returning back to work soon?"

"I'm not denying anything. But I still have to inform Pritchard that I finally got away from this sick-leave. Why people want sick-leaves? It's really boring", she muttered while packing her things. Comlink really made things easier when you had always two hands available.

"_Maybe they're not work-addicts. You wouldn't believe how hard we have to work. Those bastards blew up almost all the lab sections and top of that the main servers. Not to mention people we lost. You'll be missing you sick-leave."_

"I highly doubt so. After all, I'm waiting the credits I'll be having", she said.

"_If you say so. But I can't wait to see you back to work. See ya_."

"Bye."

She had just entered the building when a familiar figure walked out of the elevator. Adam was also surprised to see familiar heterochromic pair of eyes. And relieved to see she was actually alive and seemingly unharmed.

"Hi-ya", she greeted as she passed by and waved.

Adam noticed that.

"Wait, what happened to your hand?"

Deanna stopped on her tracks and looked at the augmented limb. Her right palm and bit of a wrist were black like his augmentation but the shape was more feminine.

"I had a random encounter with a terrorist back then. I was tossed between shelves and my hand got totally busted", she said.

Adam wanted to hit himself. So she had not done it unharmed.

"I'm sorry."

Deanna shook her head.

"Don't be. If anyone should be, it's those bastards who attacked us. I don't get how hard it is to leave in peace on this place", she murmured. Suddenly she snapped back to reality.

"I'm sorry about my rambling. I won't hold you anymore", she said and started to walk again.

"And Jensen."

Adam looked over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Meet your friends. They will either get used to your new looks or they weren't worth it in the first place. Trust me, I know", she told and disappeared behind the elevator door.

'Shit, why the hell did I just said that? He must be really annoyed now', she thought. Willy had told her detailed enough what had happened to Adam, Doctor Reed along with her team. Apparently the man got beaten up pretty badly. Having almost his whole body being augmented and being alive was a plain miracle.

Lobo, old lucky bastard had been on his coffee break and out of the building. Thank goodness Willy had survived. She had a bullet wound on her upper arm but now two months after the disaster, she had been back to work ages ago.

"_If I cried over a scratch like this how do you think I could handle real wounds?"_

Older female said that it had been worth it. If there was even a single person she could save with her actions, it would be better than her pain. This time it had been three. Willy was all smiles when she reminisce it.

Deanna shuttered at the idea. She had sufficient ability to tolerate pain, but Willy was abnormal.

When she finally got to her apartment she sent Pritchard a message informing that she was fully recovered and ready to get back to work. His response was short and professional, telling that it was about time and she'd better get her ass to work tomorrow morning.

"Love you too", she smiled at her computer screen. She knew they had suffered heavy loss at the attack.

Most had been scientist and workers of security department. There were also few persons they had lost at IT department. Great loss, no matter how you tried to put it. And because of the attack they had really hard time hiring anyone.

While Adam was struggling and cursed his pride on halfway to the store. He had refused to take the crutches with him as he thought he would survive. Nearest store was less than a kilometer away and he had to sit down? At the LIMB clinic they had said that his control would grow stronger as the tissue around the biochip would heal and the augmentations would truly become his hands. He doubted that.

Around him people hurried around, some giving him rather rude looks. Some people had augmentations like him and it made him wonder how they could stand it, the different feeling of limbs and social pressure following in their everyday life.

He also wondered what Deanna had said. He tried to recall when he had first seen her. Talking back to her superior just because she thought there was something wrong with Pritchard's work. Amusement tugged his lips upwards.

At work she was like a female version of Pritchard. She would tongue-slash everyone, who would abuse the security policy of the company. She didn't talk much outside work-subjects and kept mostly herself. She would kick a puppy if it would had done accidentally something to her precious computer. Adam wondered would she actually go that far.

When they had their chatty moments on the fire escape she had a softer side. She tried to see things from the point of view of someone else. When she shook of the hard shell of hers, the blond nerd turned to a rather nice and intelligent, although at times rather cynical person. But she was alive.

Finally his leg had stopped hurting. He rose carefully, testing if it would show symptoms immediately. It was fine so he continued his journey.

"I'm ordering pizza tomorrow", he muttered under his breath

* * *

Fiiinally on the post intro events. If I remember correct, few coming chapters are still placed between the intro section and the actual gameplay and then finally posssst game.

Too angsty Adam? I don't know. Somehow I can imagine him being rather moody when waking up and having fucked up body and seemingly dead girlfriend.

Yezzzz, my NaNo is almost ready so I'm air my brains a little. Or actually not ready but reaching the 50k. After that adding stuff that actually makes something sense and editing all the existing plot holes x_x Oh, mio Dio.

Anyways, have fun. And thank you for all the new followers. Each notification really warms up my heart ^_^


	9. Cool down

**Cool down  
**  
Lobo was not pleased. A certain person was quieter than usual and that would mean Deanna was in a bad mood, which meant she would be even snappier to the monkeys- eh, customers, which again would create a flood of complaints towards the IT department. This would make Pritchard pissed as hell and snap at everyone inside the department. Then somebody was destined to try to be a smartass and bad mouth the original source. And there my friends, he thought, is how you create a looping fifth circle of hell.

Or he could try to prevent the problem from starting. So Lobo fetched himself a huge cup of coffee and a cookie for the little boogie woman.

"Qué tal, Roomba?"

Deanna lifted her gaze from a data-pad she had been browsing.

"Estoy bien. Y tú?"

"También asi."

They chatted a while in Spanish. At first Lobo had been surprised how fast Deanna had been able to pick up grammar and writing the words. But her pronunciation was still thick as tar. Now it was even worse when Deanna was not really paying attention for it. It really made the man's Spanish heritage to cry tears of blood for hearing the beautiful language raped.

Lobo slid the cookie to her before he would go completely deaf.

"Okay, spit it out. What is bothering you? It's not Frank because we would have had heard about it already, one way or another."

Deanna looked from the cookie to his eyes and back to the cookie. In a flash the cookie was secured in her hands.

"You're bribing me?" she asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

The man flashed her his typical grin.

"I'd prefer 'preventing a third world war', thank you."

Deanna gnawed on the treat. It was her favorite; chocolate with orange peel crumbs in it. This man knew her way too well.

Lobo only smirked when sipping his coffee. Now that she was greased for better mood it would be only matter of time-

"Cramps."

"I'm not buying. That was two weeks ago", Lobo answered casually. Deanna turned pink.

"Wait, you're not saying that-" she left the words hang.

"Well, I need to make sure I know when I'm in danger of getting screwdrivers shoved into my skull", Lobo shrugged his shoulders.

"That was an accident. I had a argument and you know you shouldn't stand behind me when I'm searching tools", Deanna shrieked. She had been searching for another object from her drawers. And she kind of had this habit of tossing useless things behind her while doing this. That time she had tossed them with more force than usually…

"Whatever you say", the other side of the table told her.

She finished the cookie in her hands and licked her lips. Now she had to buy a full package of them when going home. That led her to remember what had caused her sour mood.

"I just, just, I mean that- eeh", she collapsed on the table and covered her head with hands.

"I get it. You screwed up and by the looks of it, really bad. Nothing unheard from you", Lobo tapped her shoulder. A bit varying when there was risk she would claw his hand.

"He's just so, so-" Deanna lifted her head and threw her hands open.

"Man?" Lobo suggested. Now he started to get hunch what was going on. Maybe the best part about Deanna was that she was rather easy to figure out. When you followed a few simple rules, you always got somewhere. If only other women had been as simple.

Deanna sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"More like Jensen. Everything seems to be so black and white for him. And I'll get plucked by Willy if she finds out."

Truth to be told, she was worried about him. There was, however, no way that she would admit it for _anyone_, including her best friends. They would get wrong ideas about that.

_Deanna knocked Adam's window. The man was ignoring her and was sitting away from the window. But the blond woman was persistent. Her shower was broken and there was only ice cold water coming. No way she was going to be dirty during the time it would take from the bitch on downstairs to fix it. Her knocks became more persistent. _

"He just needs time. Actually, a lot more than most", Lobo reminded her. There was only handful of people making it out alive and even less mostly in one piece from the attack. Deanna waved her hand.

"Yeah, I have somewhat memory. Have to say end is really hazy and I barely remember the hospital weeks. I find that only as a good thing. Those sedatives were good stuff."

_It was clear Adam had not trimmed his beard and probably same went with showering. Biological eyes would have probably been bloodshot. He had no shirt on and Deanna tried not to stare his torso. There were lot of bandages and rest was covered with angry pink scars. On his upper torso had also tubes - and small plugging?_

_"Could I use your shower?" She offered him sheepish grin that would hopefully soften his drop dead serious face. No such a luck. _

"Just from personal experience he should be thankful he's still alive", Deanna said. She had the right to complain about that when she had several close call experiences. She nursed a bruise she got from her argument with Adam.

"Roomba, not everyone is like you. It takes time to adjust with changes."

_"You think you've had it hard? Do whatever you want and crawl into your little hole and blame others for your problems. You've got that luxury, after all."_

_"Now would be great time to show the backbone I heard you had in Mexican town."_

Deanna burrowed her face into her hands. Why she had to lack all the social gracefulness others around her seemed to possess? She hated herself for what she had said for Adam then.

"I fucked up big time."

"Well, how about apologizing?" Lobo lifted his eyebrow and slurped his coffee.

"Hi Adam, how are you doing_?"_

The male lit a cigarette and inhaled deep.

"Fine enough, Willy. Every place still hurts like hell", he answered after breathing the smoke out.

Not to mention the argument he kept rewinding in his mind.

_"Bloody hell!"_

_Adam cursed mentally. Of course he had not remembered the broken mirror in his bathroom. Deanna must have seen that. Pain killers were luckily easy enough to explain, but the mirror was trickier part. At the moment, in his muddy cloud of painkiller and alcohol mixture, he did not come up with any plausible explanation._

_Seconds later Deanna stormed to living room. Her lips were a thin line and eyes were narrow. Adam took another sip from his bourbon. Pity that she had not taken any clothes off._

_"What is going on Adam?"_

"_You think I should just accept what they did to me?"_

"Sorry to hear that. I thought it would have got better already_._"

Willy's voice snapped him back to reality. Clips of the argument kept still returning not matter what. Adam tried his best to shoo them away.

"_Why do you think they were able to cause so much destruction on the first place? Because those brutes were augmented tanks!"_

Adam had allowed his nerves get better of himself when he should not had. With his new powers he could have harmed Deanna a lot worse than few days ago.

_He moved more out of muscle memory than consciousness. Despite the drunken haze he had enveloped himself during fast few days Adam moved surprisingly smoothly. A gasp escaped Deanna's mouth when larger mass nailed her against the wall. How helpless she looked and still she had spit like fireworks. Adam wondered whether she was brave or just plain stupid. _

_Anger fumed in his veins. She knew nothing how he was feeling. Why she refused to see that he was not the same as before- that. She was screwed, David was screwed, Megan was dead. Nothing was right. Why did she keep pestering him?_

_He barely realized he had to loosen his grip when she suddenly winced. _

_"I should throw you out", he growled._

_"Yet you won't because there is finally somebody who refuses to pity you. Been there, gone through same fucking shit you did and I fail to see why you're moping instead of celebrating to be alive." _

_Her words were sharp. Maybe worst part was that she was right, a small and extremely annoying thought pecked his brains._

_"_Adam, are you still there?"

"_At times I wonder if they have a soul at all."_

Willy's voice sounded worried.

"Yes."

"Have you talked with Deanna? After all, she has had her smart vision quite a while now."

Read: she's your peer supporter.

What was he, aside from a partly biological robot? There was a difference between them. She had a hand and an eye replaced. He had lost half of his body.

"I doubt she'll be coming to speak in a while. We had argument a while ago", Adam answered casually. This call started to grow too long for his liking.

"And? Adam, forgive me but you don't get into arguments with people. You either persuade them about your way or just deflect them", Willy laughed back. At least somebody was still able to do so.

But she was right, as usual. Adam was not completely sure why this time was different. Because it went into personal space, perhaps?

"I'm not going to talk about that", he answered.

"See? You're just going to shut your mouth. You, if anyone, should know it's not healthy."

"Willy, everything is fine", Adam stated firmly.

Before he had possibility to say anything else, there was a knock on his door.

"I heard that, you'd better go and answer."

Adam cursed the woman's bat like hearing. He waited a little but the knocker did not leave.

"Fine", he grunted. And hissed immediately after a scarred wound stretched unpleasantly when he was getting up.

"I knew you'd see this from my point of view~"

Adam wondered since when he had started to do what others told him.

"Always", he muttered darkly.

"What?"

"Nothing, Willy. You're listening? I'm walking the stairs up", he commented.

"I now open the door and-" he paused.

Behind the door stood certain dark blond haired woman with sheep-like expression on her face.

"I call you later", he said and hung up. The two of them were left in a hanging silence. Deanna moved few times nervously.

"Er, coffee?" she asked and held out a take-away cup while keeping one next to her body. Adam was about to refuse flatly when the sweet aroma of liquid cocaine hit his nose. He had not drank good coffee in ages. But he did not want to loosen the noose around her, yet.

"What do you want?" he asked with low voice and eyes narrowing.

"I just, eh, I mean that-" she searched the words. Then she seemed to make her mind and straightened her back. Mixture of blue and green bored into Adam's eyes.

"Just sorry for what I said."

It must have been hard with the size of the ego that she had, he thought.

"And from where did the change of mind come from?" Adam asked casually when he picked the cup from her hands. Fuck, he wanted nothing more than to drink it all at once.

Deanna's eyes narrowed. Oh how she hated him at times. Somehow she was able to pull most of the sharpness away from her response.

"I'd be honest but then it would be a waste of $5 coffee."

Adam did not answer nor there was even a slightest change in his facial expression. Instead he turned around and disappeared. Door was left open and Deanna had no idea was she supposed to do.

"You're coming or what?" carried from inside.

Well, that certainly solved it, she thought. She padded in and watched how the man added some milk to his coffee. Something she would have never guessed about Adam. He seemed more like straight black-type.

The man thought he love this woman despite how annoying she could be at times. The coffee was better than anything he had tasted in days. Low, extremely masculine and satisfied groan made her shiver a little. Bad girl, Deanna swatted herself.

"What happened to your eye?" he asked. It had bothered him since the first meeting. Also it was safer topic than the attack that was still too a soon-topic. Deanna followed on his steps down the stairs. She weighted her options. This was something that she had not told for many persons. It was kind of a personal thing but not something womanly that she avoided talking about at any cost.

Adam waited on the couch, waiting patiently her to be ready to start. Deanna chose a chair, somewhat between the television and the coffee table, and leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She could still smell cigarette smoke of the room. In her memories, pictures of different locations and people formed images. The woman swirled the fluids in her cup. There was still something left from her cooled cappuccino.

"I was diagnosed with cancer, I think it was in my second year on the university. My options were with risky chemotherapy or lobbing the thing off completely", she said. Adam's eyes widened slightly. He had no idea about that. Did even Willy know?

"Sorry to hear."

Deanna shrugged her shoulders ,but kept her eyes closed. Watching Adam might had ended up triggering some kind of emotional overreaction from her part.

"Shit happens. Funny thing is that mother cried a lot more than I did. She could not stop asking why this would happen to me."

"And how you felt?" Adam asked. What she had felt back then? It had already started to fade like any pain does when damage heals. Physical pain numbs, but a ghost of a memory stays and creates the vicious circle of fear.

"Angry, frustrated. Scared, but most times numb. Facts are facts, I can deal with them. It's always been easier that way. It was a late stage and chemo had a low probability of success. So I chose the removal operation. I survived but with being a university student I could not afford the early augmentations."

She paused and eyed the ceiling. A strained and somewhat bitter smile stretched her mouth. Deanna lifted her head to look at Adam.

"Losing one eye is awful. You have to learn to drive, estimate, at times even think differently. One side is completely blind. It's not losing a limb but more like losing a half of its usability. I hated driving, going shopping, anything that required lots of analyzing of visual feedback. But I learned to survive and that barely anyone is that big or important that you should look up at them."

Bitterness melted away from her lips when better memories swept away the worse ones.

"I was so happy when I got the augmentation. Having one eye, it's like limbo. You're neither broken nor complete but something in between."

Deanna checked time and noticed that she would be slaughtered if she would not soon log in virtually. Adam was silent and she had little idea what was going on in his mind.

"I have to go now. If you want, I could drop you some books I have", she suggested. Adam seemed to snap out of daze he had succumbed.

"I guess it can't do any harm", he answered absentmindedly.

"Good, I'll leave them outside your window then. See ya."

"Bye."

Adam felt her hand squeeze his shoulder briefly when she walked past him. The man placed his other hand on hers before Deanna was able to remove it. He was surprised when she did not flinch under it. Deanna stopped surprised and looked at him.

"Thank you for telling me this", he said without looking at her her. Deanna nodded lightly.

"It's nothing. Thank you for listening. I kind of have missed an opportunity to talk about it with somebody", she told him.

He had nothing to answer for that so he removed his hand. Deanna lifted hers. After the door had closed behind her, Adam finished his cooled coffee. Deanna's touch faded slowly away with the sunlight.

* * *

Merry Christmas folk.

Deanna and Lobo's conversation:  
"How's going, Roomba?"  
"I'm fine. And you?"  
"Fine as well."

A chapter I totally rewrote at some point and I'm still not completely happy with the result. This one's more about Deanna's past, next one's going to be Jensen finally opening up. I hope Adam was not totally out of character with this one... Okay, I'm lying, he probably is.


	10. Restart

**Restart  
**

As Deanna had promised, she dropped off a few books behind Adam's window.

Most of them were already old and seemed to deal with identity crises after massive body operations. They were actually good books. One that Adam found himself liking was about the difference between organic body parts and augmentations. It made sense why Deanna had referred to her eye as a low-tech imitation of an eye. David's dream about perfect augmentations seemed to be far away.

While newer ones were a bunch of nonsense. He doubted Maria Zhannan, writer of 'From mud to glory – Learning to live with my augmentation', even existed or she was a hyper, 16-year-old schoolgirl.

But there were certain points and most interesting was that the original owner had done her notes along the margins and some loose papers had also been left. Adam didn't know if she was aware of them being there. His feelings towards reading the notes were mixed. He was curious to find out what her thoughts had been with her augmentation but it also felt like spying.

Deanna looked up when she heard a knock from her door. Her brows knitted together when she tried to think who it would be.

"Who's there?" she asked through the thick panel.

"I brought your books back."

What did Adam want so late? She opened her door. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

"You look awful", she blurted. Okay, maybe not best way to start conservation,

"Come in. Please, kick your shoes off, would you."

Adam stepped in and hesitated a little. He had no socks them not being necessary. Then the man realized where he was. Deanna would not give a rat's ass about his augmented feet and kicked his shoes next to hers.

She led him stairs down and sat him to a massive couch. It was real leather, worn by age. Adam noticed that her apartment had many plants. Around the floor and various levels were covered with mechanic junk. He could not decide did her apartment remind him more of a rainforest or a spaceship. She had clearly attacked the fancy style of the architecture and headlocked it with her personality.

Her huge television was off but in front of it was smaller one with power on.

"You have a HDML-television? I thought those had vanished ages ago", he asked surprised

"Nope", she said, savoring the p-letter. She walked the steps up again and to her kitchen. Her bare feet were barely audible against floor and totally silent on mats she had. Adam heard her put on a kettle. He looked to his left and noticed a huge bookshelf below the kitchen opening. He rose and walked closer to see it.

First he noticed a huge amount of old video games. Starting from the PS2 era and some were actually older than that. He traced his fingers over them, remembering how it was to play those games. Why he had actually stopped? Had it been because he had grown up, started to work and had no time anymore? Or had he just thought it was not suitable for grownups?

Other parts were a mixture of music and movie cases. But most were books; philosophy, history, fantasy, science fiction, textbooks, you name it. Also she had a stereo system set up there. It was like whole new world had opened to him.

"There you go", she said suddenly behind him. He accepted a mug of what he thought was tea. Adam was slowly starting to learn what good strength was but kept his hold loose around the mug.

"I didn't know you were old school gamer."

"I don't talk much about it. So what did you want to talk about?" she asked and pulled her computer chair under her. Adam sat back to the couch.

"What did I want to talk about?" he repeated.

Deanna looked amused.

"You could have chosen to return the books whenever you wanted but you chose to do it when it's almost midnight. Even I'm not that socially dump."

Adam chose to take a sip of his drink. He was surprised when it was not tea but hot rum. It was also really sweet. Not his favorite option to drink but it warmed him up.

"What is this?"

"Hot water mixed with lots of sugar and dark rum. You've never tried it?"

"Only with Cuba Libre", he answered. Deanna lifted her brow in question.

"Coke with rum", he explained.

"Never been my favorite", she shrugged her shoulders.

Adam noticed now that her clothes were much different to what he was used to see. Her pants were dark brown and made of soft fabric that settled quite nice and v-neckline shirt revealed more of her skin. She actually looked like a woman.

Her t-shirt also showed few big scars in her upper hands. They looked fresh so had they also been caused by the attack.

"What happened to you at the attack?" he asked.

Deanna face grew a bit darker.

"Long story short. I was at one of the server rooms when they attacked. Thank goodness it was away from the main events. I had to get away from there so I sneaked like a spy in video games along the building. It's much harder than it looks", she said and waved her augmented fingers.

"You bet", he answered. He had had done his fair share of it.

"Anyway, I managed to get some way, when I met one of these terrorist. He chased me, tackled me, I punched him in the face and in return, he hurled me into a rack and threw another on top of me. My hand was crushed there beyond repairing.

"It's a funny thing. I can stand the phantom pain but lord have mercy on my soul when it starts to itch", she mumbled as she moved her right hand. It still felt numb and Deanna waited for feeling of needles pinching through the skin. She knew that was something what would never happen.

"I know what you're talking about", Adam answered. It was horrible when he had no way to relieve it. He looked at what she had been doing with her television. There was a pause screen.

"You have a running PS3?" he asked.

Deanna nodded. She was not sorry for the change of topic.

"Yeah. It's been same since I bought it 2015. Had to replace few parts and violate several terms of service along the way but it works", she said voice filled with pride.

"I used to play Xbox 360. Way much better shooters", he said.

"What's it with boys and shooting everything that moves?" Deanna asked sarcastic.

"Watch it lady. I see what you have running inside that right now", Adam said.

"It's a god dammit RPG. Yes, you kill orcs there. No, that's not the main point of the game", she pouted. The look on her face was funny and completely opposite of her usual behavior.

"I challenge you. We have a racing game and may the best player win", she suddenly said and jumped up.

"What? I don't have player in years", Adam answered.

"Doesn't bother me. I love sweeping floors with newbies", she said and marched to her bookshelf. The man had to admit the challenge was tempting.

At first Adam played really passive. After losing few races something stirred inside him.

"Ready to get ass wiped again?" Deanna asked. Adam leaned forward.

"This time I'm not going to lose", he growled. If his gaze had not been so fixed into the screen, he would have seen extremely smug look on Deanna's face. Before they even noticed, it well past midnight and closer to morning.

Talking became much easier while they played. Adam learnt that she had two younger brothers, one married and working near her home town, while other was studying for a degree in English.

Deanna was mostly listening while Adam talked. Normal childhood, graduated as a cop, life at SWAT, you name it. He seemed not to even notice his opening up. He talked a great deal about Megan, how they had problems but also many wonderful moments.

"You still care a lot about her", she said.

She wondered what it felt like, to care so much about another person. She doubted she had ever really loved someone. Crushes she remembered, yes, but nothing more, unless you counted non-organic things like computers.

"How could I not? We were together for a really long time. I wasn't even able to attend her funeral and say her proper goodbye", he sighed.

Deanna did not know what to say. She knew, however, what she wanted to say. But her opinions were better left for her ears alone. She had always thought Doctor Reed was a nice woman. Now she seemed more like a bitch. Relationships were too damned complicated.

"Have you ever lost someone close to you?" Adam asked. Blond woman shook her head.

"No, I haven't. I was very young when somebody close to our family died", she said.

When they finally stopped Adam noticed that he felt better than he had in ages. He started to feel tired unlike the usual, when he just slept because he had nothing better thing to do. Deanna also yawned quite dramatically. Her high pitched mew sounded totally out of character. And a little cute, as Adam noted.

"I have kept you awake too long", Adam said when he realized how late it was.

"Don't sweat it. It has been ages since I had a good competitor to play with", she said with a lopsided smile.

That night Adam was able to sleep first time without waking up at least once. Sure, he still had to take narcotics in the evening but now he didn't have to take new pill during the night. He wondered if it had anything to do with his talk with Deanna. Some of the weight he had previously felt had disappeared.

After few days he started to notice changes in his condition. There was not so much pain anymore and he actually felt with his artificial limbs better than in the beginning. They were nearly as sensitive as his original hands and legs. It was truly a victory as he didn't have to use crutches at all.

* * *

Yey, Jensen is healing. And we're finally getting to end/post-game events *cheers*


	11. Seven times down

Spoilers, thought minor

* * *

**Seven times down**

He couldn't believe it. After so much he had gone through, this was what he got.

"Hello Adam. Welcome to the edge. This is not the end of the world but you can see it from here…"

"Fuck you, Cassan. Fuck. You", he cursed. He could taste the bitterness he felt on his tongue. The Illuminati, Versalife, even David himself…who was right? Part of him told that every one of them. But when it had cost him Faridah, Netanya, Megan… far too many people. And it all was because there were a few shitheads, who only saw their goal as the right one. What ever happened to trying to solve issues together in harmony?

There was so much suffering caused by people like him. Darrow was right. It was dangerous that they allowed them to do so much with augmentations in the first place. Illuminati and augmentations both threatened humanity's free will. People deserved to know the truth. But what they would do with it?

But on the other hand, as Taggart had said, there had to be boundaries. The years working as a police taught him that much. Riots cost lives when people went wild. Then there was only anarchy left.

Maybe a year ago he would have just pressed David's button. Back then he accepted augmentations even when not loving them. It would have been so simple to see everything with black and white. He liked them. And he hated gray.

"_Adam?"_

"_Yes?"_

_What was wrong with Alex? His usually jolly voice was now flat and hoarse. The security chief heard the other male swallow._

"_You still remember Kip?"_

"_Yes? What about him?"_

_He remembered him rather well. The young man was similar to Alex and their pranks caused many gray hairs and much laughter back then. Adam remembered Kip had left for army. Bright lad, loved football, a bit naive but hard working. Adam liked to label they had mutual understanding of how things worked. _

"_Just thought you'd, you'd-" Alex's talking was stopped in loud sob,_

"_Fuck Adam, the kid killed himself."_

"_You know why?" the security chief asked after a moment of silence. Well, he certainly had not seen that coming. Alex took few deep breaths on the other end._

"_Lost his limbs when grenade exploded. His mother called me. Sobbed him writing that he did not want to be a bother to anyone."_

"_Then why didn't he have leg augmentations? Veterans get them."_

"_Because he couldn't, Adam! He's incompatible!"_

Would supporting David mean that cases like Kip would be avoided? Or would it provide more nutcases like Namir? Adam tried to count how many times he had been on the edge. It was a miracle he had not snapped. He certainly had had many suitable moments. If there was luck, most of his (mental) screws were still firmly tightened. Adam was not sure could that be possible.

Tears of rage threatened to fall from his eyes.

"Cassan, you're a fucking cold bitch", he swore her.

"I'm sorry Adam. I just do what I was designed for."

That was the problem. Only strict and limited protocol would define the future. Again something he felt that he could not affect. Deanna might have been able to. Or even Pritchard. Adam realized he missed that old, stubborn bastard.

But they were not here. And Adam's talents were with people. Humankind could have been compromised. These were wrong answers.

"Is there- is there any other way?" he asked beaten. The AI nodded on the screen.

"If you follow the corridor, you will find Panchaea's decopressurizers. It will cause a self-destruct and kill everybody on board."

"So this is all your high technology can give us, fucked up choices, with no alternatives."

He, however, followed the corridor. There was his answer. With that he would be spared from choosing. And it would be good for them all, Darrow, Sarif, Taggart. And him, it was better if he did go was well.

"_Funny. Many psychological tests show that if there was a train and two tracks, where heading either way would kill people, many people would not touch the rail switch. They seem to realize that it was choosing also", Deanna muttered. _

_"And what brought this to your mind?" Adam asked. Deanna swayed her bourbon in glass. Setting sun painted it an even deeper amber colored. _

_"I never thought I'd be drinking this things with rocks, but it's only way to make it drinkable", she muttered._

_"Your taste is just too picky", Adam said and took a gulp from his glass. It was shit, but at least it was good shit._

_Deanna didn't answer his original question right away._

_"Maybe it is all those people walking along the streets. They think it's not their choice or responsibility. Fuck that bullshit. I call it giving up. People, who fight also shape the world. Think for example when they tried to limit internet."_

_"And see how much it helped in the end. In the end they made more strict laws to restrain illegal sharing, and internet."  
_

"_Then you don't know anything about it. One does not simply limit it. But that was not my point. It was delayed then. Relevant thing was that back then enough many people made it their business. And that's what all tyrants are afraid of", she toasted to something invisible and drained her glass._

_"I never knew you had a little anarchist living in you", Adam told her. _

_"It's not anarchy, you're just too cop", she smirked back._

"This is your change, Deanna", Adam muttered. He would destroy any evidence left so humanity, whom she believed in so much, would be able to make their decision. What she had toasted for then? His mind was filled with too many questions, which remained unanswered.

He hesitated. He thought all those innocent people trapped there, forced to horrible things. Was it better to kill them or save them? His hands were already stained with blood.

But was that not cowardliness? To end the game when there were only bad options left. He was certain that several persons existed that would have given him earful of thinking like that.

But what it would solve to let lies continue? People deserved the truth even if it meant sacrifices.

"_You get rid of one, there's a dozen waiting you. No matter how many you eliminate", Deanna muttered curses as she stared her screen. Her blunt nails hammered the table around her mouse. It was clear she was worked up and on sour mood. _

_"Fucking idiots. Who cares that there is top-security stuff that needs best protection, but no, I had to check that attachment my sister's ex-boyfriends namesake send me. Who the hell cares if it might infect the whole network?"_

_"That much fun? Why don't you just give up" Adam asked. Deanna turned her chair around._

_"Are you kidding me? This is my job and that means I'll keep doing it, ya know? And I don't do things half-assed", she told as a matter of fact. Her toned softened slightly, _

"_So, did you have something actual to say or you just popped to say hello?" _

_"Just making sure you're safe. Those riots look pretty bad."_

_"Awww, so sweet of you", she said with overacted affection. Adam noticed a slight quickening in her heartbeat. But it could have been jumping from her previous annoyance. _

_"But I'm fine. I'm a big girl and able to take care of myself."_

_Still, Adam couldn't shake the small uneasiness he felt when he thought Deanna could be threatened. Not to betray his feelings, he turned around to leave. Malik was already ready to fly again. _

_"Adam, I appreciate your concern but really, I'll manage", she said to his back. _

It would be good for them all just go, sink into the depths of the ocean. These people had caused nothing but harm. Sleep, Adam longed for that.

_"Adam!"_

_He was about to turn around the corner. _

_"Yes?"_

_Deanna's head poked from her room._

_"You're going again, right? Those things when you're ages away. Just come back in one piece, okay?" she said. There was a small grin on her face, which made his heart twitch unpleasantly. But it also loosened his lips up._

_"I promise, Deanna. I promise."_

He couldn't push the button. But what could he choose? Illuminati would bring order and that would bring peace. No, that was out of question. Ultimate power only created tyrants. And it was something he did not want to have. He had seen too many times what happened with men who had too much influence. It corrupted even the best of them. Adam wondered if he was one of them, blinded by power.

Adam drew back his hand from where it had hovered over the destruction button. He returned to the main room, where the three screens with controls waited him.

"Fuck Deanna, when did you turn me into a human?" he cursed with low voice. Because all of this was her fault. The thought both angered and gave him hope.

'_I want to be able to play with my kid when he or she grows older. It would be wrong for them if there was a possibility to be with them and not to take it.'_

"Please, not you too Alex", he prayed. Those augmentations needed regulations, which Sarif was sure not to follow. His drive for more was far too great.

"_Look at me, Adam. Look at me into eyes and say I'm not human."_

Rage coiled inside him and Adam hit his fist into the wall. It didn't brake but thick metal bended little. For the first time he could actually feel pain in his hand. He embraced the feeling he thought he had lost along his real hands. Who cared if it meant it was malfunction in circuits? So was pain in real life.

What would it do for people like her if augmentations were found dangerous? They would be hunted and hated. First he had not seen it but many times it was the augmented people, who had suffered like the working ladies of Hengsha he had saved. Innocent people had suffered in the hands of corporations like Versalife. Had Sarif done the same? Could he ever trust the man again? The answer was negative, or at least would take a very long time. Even then there would be chips, threatening to start cracking all over again.

Adam took few deep breaths to calm himself down. There were options, so he sorted them out. He figured which one was the absolute no-no. To options left, he wished he had a coin to toss. It would had made things a lot easier.

Finally all the pieces settled on their places and his mind found tranquility. It was a magical feeling when all the stress and weariness disappeared at once. Adam could not remember since when he had felt the Zen-like state. Something that felt like years ago, even before his relationship with Megan started to fall apart.

There was a way, no matter how much it did hurt. It might be the wrong choice but if other options were complete destruction, fall of freedom or hatred and persecution towards single group of humans, was it any better? Better a known than a foreign devil. Adam knew he could deal with it. He _had _to believe in it.

"If you do this, the focus of hatred may shift to those responsible for unleashing biological warfare, leaving corporations free to experiment with human evolution. Are you sure you want to do this?"

He had to believe that this would work out. Adam swore himself he would not give up so easily. At least this would be _his_ choice and not someone else's. Unlike past few months, where he had been tossed around like a some kind of basketball.

Adam eyed Darrow's truth, while his hand rested over another. Such a small move holding that kind of significance.

"So be it."

* * *

Adam, you might consult a shrink when this all is over.

A/N

My tera thanks to paperfingers for your review! You absolutely made my day when I checked my email this morning^^ I'm happy that you've enjoyed the writing and relationship development so far

One of the chapters I loved and hated writing at the same time. I changed the ending at least half a dozen times and I still feel like I did the wrong choice :/ Yet, at the same time I'm like pfffff, like any of these would make any change, self-destruction the least. Well played, Eidos, well played even if I can't say the same about few other things with the story line.

But I'm finally on post-game events *partyyyyy*


	12. Eight times up

**Eight times up**

Adam hurried through the destroyed Hyron core chamber. In the air lingered tangy smell from burnt human flesh that used to Zhao. That place he hurried past. He took the elevator back up again. All he could hear was the sound of hydraulics. No screams, no curses. Either he had managed to close the signal or they had killed themselves. Adam did not want the later one be true.

Seeing the open sky growing bigger and bigger lightened his mind.

"Pritchard, can you hear me?" he called once he was almost up.

"_Bar-ly. W-at do y- want?"_

A wave of relief washed over him. At least some things were as they used to be.

"Is the signal down?"

"_Yes."_

"Great. We'll be heading back as soon as possible."

There was silence so Adam thought Pritchard had disconnected.

"_Thank y-, Adam."_

"Thank you, Francis", he answered. Adam was surprised how much he actually meant it,

"Do you believe that once the station has been evacuated, you could blow it up?"

"_Ma-be. Why?"_

"Trust me. You don't want to know."

"_Fine. Inform me when you're out from there."_

He met Sarif at upper levels. The other man was clearly slightly beaten-up but shaking of the shock like duck shaking water from its back.

"Son! Amazing job you did there", older male greeted Adam and patted the younger male's back. The latter one hoped he could share his enthusiasm. Instead he could not wait to get back to Detroit and drink himself unconscious. Oh snap, that was not possible. Ha ha.

"When we get out of here?" he asked. He wanted to get away from this place. The sooner, the better.

"As soon as possible. It'll take a while for rescue VTOLs to arrive. Now we have to take care of those, who are injured. Rest some and here's a candy bar I found."

In seconds he was gone again with Adam left to stare his hand. As bad as David was, at least he had some good inside him. The security chief unwrapped the candy and munched it slowly.

Taggart, on the other hand, was not so pleased.

"What were you thinking Jensen? You have doomed us all", he snarled.

With a blink, Adam's serenity was shattered. He swallowed the last bite and tossed the wrappings on the deck. Antarctic wind blew it away immediately.

With little effort he lifted the suit man easily against the wall and his ceramic blade pressed against Taggart's open throat. Men around them drew out their guns.

"Call them off, Taggart or it makes two of us not making it out alive from here."

The founder of Humanity Front signaled his guards to lower their weapons with a wave of a hand. Adam nodded in approval but did not loosen his hold.

"You listen to me now. I am tired for trying to save human lives you seem so happy to sacrifice. Because you are so high and mighty on your saddles, normal people are fucked up. So don't come telling me bullshit about what is good for humans."

He released Taggart. The male slid along the wall to fall down. Adam gave him last look before heading where he had last time seen David to disappear.

"You'll regret this Jensen. From this day on, you have to always watch your back, because you never know when we'll strike."

Adam looked over his shoulder to give the other man a cold, toothy smile.

"Trust me Taggart. From this moment on, I have power over you."

Taggart's eyes hardened.

"Shoot him", he ordered.

Few bullets clipped off of his back when Adam jumped behind cover. He checked what kind of weaponry he had with him. A stun gun, machine gun almost out of ammunition, pistol and few mines. Great, he thought. Nothing to use in that section. There had been four guards so if he was quick, then he would be able to take them down with reflex booster.

"Sounds like a plan", he muttered as he outlined his moves. The guards had also hid behind cover. If he tried to straight forward and had bad luck, there would probably be a headshot.

He noticed few boxes next to containers, which would allow him to approach them from up. He removed the safety of the machine gun and fired it to give himself some cover when he crossed open space. With quick dash he was on the container and sneaking towards Taggart's lackeys.

"Where did he go? Did anyone see?"

"Last I saw, he was still where he jumped."

Th last screamer was Taggart, blowing of his lungs,

"Idiots! I pay you for working, not talking. Find him!"

One brave one moved cautiously forward. He was dark skinned and extremely heavy built. The other seemed to be pale skinned but still built the same. The more muscle you have, the easier it is to roll over your enemies. Willy would be ashamed if she was forced to witness Taggart's choice. Thinking the female made Adam smirk. _She_ had been a right choice.

As silent as a cat, he jumped behind the two who had stayed behind. Taggart had no time yell warning before Adam had already knocked them out and moved for the ones left. Again few bullets bounced from his skin. First he knocked up the dark skinned man and last the one of the vampires. He threw the unconscious body to ground.

"Didn't I warn you, Taggart? How about I kill you here and now? Then there would be one problem less in my world", he said. While he talked, Adam walked closer Taggart. They gray haired male pulled out a revolver out of his chest pocket and fired the whole round to Adam's chest. The man

"Y-you monster."

Cold satisfaction filled Adam's chest. He had made Taggart fear him. Now it was he time to chase rather than flee and sneak around.

"A monster you've created, mind you. Because without all the things I have been through, they have mainly been obstacles you have set before me", he said. He lifted Taggart from his front. The older man trashed and kicked his feet, hitting nothing.

"But I can still choose. You see, there's a woman, who lost an eye for cancer and a hand when soldiers raided us. She only had them back with augmentations but she's a stubborn devil. A person, who asked _me_ if she was not human because of her augmentations. I could not look into her eyes and answer. With all her flaws and I'm not talking about augmentations, she's still more human than you and I will ever be.

"There's also a man who would take an augmentation so he could play with his children. They are not driven by lust for power like you. But you fail to see that. All you see is power. They want love and acceptance. They want freedom where you see anarchy. You should hang out with regular people more, it would give some perspective."

Adam threw Taggart across the floor. Now horrified man rolled on the deck like a rack-doll and stopped on his stomach.

"You are not enlightened. You are blinded by your own glory and that makes _you_ monsters. You better hide and well, because I won't show you same mercy when we see next time", the security chief growled.

"You're only a pathetic dog running in Sarif's leash. This is what I am talking about. You were given too much power. I can see how you are struggling with your morals", Taggart yelled when he pulled himself to sitting position. He was not calm and collected anymore, nor his suit stainless. He looked pathetic. Adam pulled out his pistol and fired one round next to the other male's leg.

"This is how much I am struggling. So you'd better run."

Adam turned away. He knew well enough that the message had gone through. Behind him, Adam could hear the sounds of a person getting up and running away.

Later when they were evacuated he called to Detroit. He searched a noisier place where others would not hear him.

"Pritchard, are you there?"

"_Loud and clear, Jensen. I take you are off the Panchaea?"_

"Yes, about half an hour ago. Few military VTOLs picked the survivors, Darrow and us away."

"_So the Panchaea is now empty?"_

"Yes, it is. Have you found a way?"

"_As usual, I often surprise myself with how good I am. Yes, in its current state hacking it was like, well, not hacking at all."_

"Back to the business, if you don't mind."

"_Impatient as always, Jensen. As I was just about to say, I can overwrite it to overload and cause a self-destruction. You're really sure you want to do this? That thing cost rather handsomely and it's the closesst thing we've to survive global warming."_

"Believe me, Pritchard. That's not a solution, or at least a right one. It is better that place is destroyed. No one should experience what I found from there."

"_Fine. I start overwriting the commands. Maybe 20 to 25 minutes and it is gone."_

"Good."

"Son, do you know what happen to Taggart? I lost him when the riot began", David asked when the younger man returned to his seat. Adam shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't see him at all there. Maybe he got killed while the signal was on?" younger male pondered.

"I could swear I did see him after that. But maybe it was just my imagination", David muttered.

Adam wished they had windows to look out. It would have been much better than looking the rescued workers or David. He was afraid that his looks would betray his emotions. At least David became soon more interest in talking on phone.

They were evacuated to Japan, where David did not stay idle.

"Great news, son. We've plane ready in an hour that takes us back to Detroit", he stated when he flipped closed his phone.

"Sure. Sorry I couldn't find anything else", the younger man answered and handed his boss a take-away hamburger meal.

"It's fine. I'm sure I've eaten worse things", the CEO said. People tended to forget his origins often enough. David had to change his mind after the first bite.

"At least in my youth they knew how to make junk food. Back then it would have grease, salt and taste. This is like eating cardboard. Old Jimmie would've hanged himself if he had served this for customers."

Adam masked his laugh with coughing.

The flight back to home certainly felt long.

"What?" David chocked on the phone. Adam gave him a brief look.

"What do you mean blew up?" This went on for a while. Finally the CEO closed his phone.

"Can you believe it, Panchaea exploded about thirty minutes we left it. That cost pretty penny to build. And broken right after being completed. Hugh ain't happy once he hears about that", David whistled, with a hint of a dialect surfacing from all stress and lack of rest.

"Unfortunate", Adam grunted. While in truth he wanted to ask, if his boss knew how his augs were used. The security chief could still see rows and rows of cryo-pods of John and Jane Does, the cells and operation tables. He decided to keep his mouth shut for now and wait till they had landed. Adam wanted an option to storm off as no doubt the discussion with David would be a tough one. Although an option of jumping to Pacific Ocean sounded appealing.

At some point he dozed, only to jolt awake after few hours. At that point David tried to question him about the events on the broadcast room. It was nirvana when the pilot informed they were approaching Detroit and Sarif Industries.

Adam felt his heart have a few extra beats when familiar shapes grew sharper. It was amazing to be back to the rotten city. Air might not been as clear as on Panchaea but at least your nose was not freezing off. Adam wondered if the feeling had something to do with loving the place you lived on. Or simply knowing that he could rest the first time in a while.

VTLo landed on the backyard of the Sarif Industries, where there was already many employees waiting for them, Athene on the front row. David greeted them warmly while Adam slipped away from the crowd. He headed for smaller entrance.

"Hello there, champ."

Adam smiled. There were people he could not fool.

"Hello Willy. Nice to see you're fine", he greeted the blond woman. She leaned casually on a wall, satisfied with her guess proven right.

"You bet Adam. Have to say, I'm happy that you came out alive. We all were really worried when augs went berserk", older female said. Her smile was a bright as always but Adam saw dark rings under her eyes.

"You should get some sleep. You look tired", he told her.

The bright haired woman laughed,

"Typical Adam, caring 'bout others first. You should see yourself. Get some rest. You need it. We have survived so far with Frank whipping us into a move, few days more will be fine", Willy rested her hand on Adam's shoulder,

"Must been hell of a meeting on the Panchaea. But it's over now."

"Thanks Willy, but I'm fine", he answered. Strange that he did not feel need to retreat from her touch.

"You're just saying so", she said with a sing a song voice,

"Honestly, youngsters. They never know where their limits are."

"Fine, _mother_. But I'll be back to work tomorrow."

Willy gave him offended look, "I certainly am not that old."

"Fine, fine. Are everybody also good?"

"I think that yes. There are still few Hull doesn't have been able to get contact. I am more worried about Frank's side. They have far more augmented persons. And before you even think, you're going to your apartment and resting", Willy said. Her glance hardened telling Adam to try challenge her. This time the male found it better to retreat.

"Easy tiger, I'm going", he said and lifted his hands. To make sure that, Willy saw him to the front door.

"See you. And remember, I don't want to see you tomorrow here."

"Willy, if I remember correct, I'm your boss. Don't press too hard."

"Go home, Adam. And – or never mind."

This sharpened him immediately. Blond woman chewed her lower lip, realizing she talked past her mouth.

"What Willy?" Adam asked alarmed

"Nothing, absolutely nothing."

"Willy, you're worst liar I've ever met."

She sighed defeated.

"Could you check Deanna while you're there? Lobo, Frank or me, none of us has been able to contact her…"

A bucket of ice was dumped to Adam's stomach. He turned on his heels and sprinted towards his apartment. Willy yelled something after him but he was not able to make the words out.

"Please, let her be fine. Let her be fine", he repeated over and over again in his head. How could he have forgotten her?

* * *

My main reason to go with Sarif's ending. Remember, Taggart, karma's a bitch only if you're.

Blowing up Panchaea, maybe not the smartest idea to do. But hey, accidents happen *_whistling*_

Again, huuuge thank you paperfingers. I'm so happy that you like Deanna. She's a fun character to write, although challenging what comes to few future chapters. Adam's the challenging one, mainly because I played Human Revolution pacifically, while all the promotion material shows him butchering enemies.

*bows* I hope you and all the other readers enjoyed.


	13. Aftershock

**Aftershock **

Deanna thought she had died. There was muscles aching, dark bruises covered her skin along red stripes. Everything around her was smashed to pieces. What the hell had just happened? Despite torturing her brains, the woman could not remember. There was big, black hole in her memory. She felt shaken and weary. The feeling resembled having a hangover, Deanna thought bitterly. What time it was? What _day_ it was?

"What a mess", she groaned.

What she was even doing at the corner? Her whole body hurt like hell. Her legs wobbled like no tomorrow and Deanna had to lean heavily against her bookshelf. Bi-colored pair of eyes analyzed her apartment. The leather couch had some big scratch marks on it, both televisions were in pieces. Her potted plants were either without a pot or rested in its broken remains. Her phone was lying next to a wall, insides out. She poked the remnants with her toe.

"Nokia would have survived", she muttered. It hurt to talk.

The stairs to kitchen took twice than normal. It was mortifying to take support from the wall. When she finally got to her freezer and dug out a bottle of water, her feet gave in. Somehow Deanna was able to slow herself enough not to collapse with full force on the floor. She eyed her ceiling from half-sitting, half-laying position. Funny how she had not noticed so many stains up there.

"Shit!"

She jumped up and sank back relieved. The screen of her computer was smashed but the machine itself seemed to be left in place. Maybe because of it was placed between the wall and the table.

She felt really shitty. Cleaning up the place could wait until tomorrow or whatever but she needed a shower. Taking care not to step on anything looking too sharp she cleared a route to her bed room and toilet.

Scalding hot water felt divine. It burned the wounds and soothed her sore muscles. While scrubbing her hair wondered what happened. She was not a heavy drinker so it was not hangover or drunken rampage. Nor she had psychosis or something like that. At the moment her brains were way too fuzzy to have any kind of coherent idea.

She dried her hair the best she could. Small driblets fell on floor as Deanna searched something comfortable to wear. Everything was too cool or warm to wear. Finally she settled with over-sized t-shirt and semi-long cotton pants. She was out cold before she even touched the bed.

Deanna woke up at loud banging.

"Who the hell it is?" she croaked. Her muscles were still sore but at least the headache had dulled little. She wobbled up and towards her front door. She hissed when a broken peace of ceramic scratched her foot.

"Deanna! Are you alright? Answer me!"

Was that Adam's voice? She opened the door.

"What?"

She shielded her eye from the bright light. Yes, it was Adam, looking like shit. And smelled like that as well. Suddenly she was pulled against that reeking mass. Strangely, it was not completely unpleasant smell. Unlike when she was forced to be in the same room with her brothers after they had sweat a lot.

"You should take a shower", she muttered against his shoulder but answered the hug. What the hell was going on here? Adam did _not_ hug people.

"In a moment. Do you have any idea what has happened out there?" he asked.

"No, my phone, both TVs are broken and I was too tired to open the computer. But please, take a shower. Seriously", she asked and pushed him a bit away.

Now he could clearly see her state. Her hair was little damp and stuck out almost every possible way. Her arms were covered with pink and red stripes and dark bruises as if she had scratched and hit herself. The skin was pale and had lost its usual healthy glow.

But at least she was alive and sane.

"What are you even doing here?" she asked.

"We just got back from Panchaea. Willy was worried about you", he answered. Adam wondered what would be the best way to break the news her. It would not be soft landing, exactly. He looked at what state her apartment was. It was like a battlefield.

"Do you feel fine?" he asked.

Deanna wrinkled her brow.

"I don't know. I have this weird feeling that I should remember something but I can't. I don't have any idea how my apartment got into this condition or why my arms are bruised. I woke up in a corner but my head was aching so hard I just wanted to go to sleep."

The dark haired male was thankful that Deanna was not prone to panic. Actually, it was almost like she turned into a machine at stress situations.

"I- I'll explain you everything but it is better if we go to my apartment", he said her. Deanna shook her head.

"Honestly, I'm fine. I just need some more sleep", she resisted.

"No Deanna, it is better if you come now", Adam said.

"Can't it wait until morning?" she asked. Her headache started to turn worse again. Maybe it was the new biochip that was glitching? She held a side of her head.

Adam noticed this.

"Is your head hurting?" he asked and tried to resist an urge to touch her. It wounded him to see her so vulnerable.

"A little. I visited limp few days ago when my old chip started to glitch. Seems like this one is wonky was well", she muttered. She wanted to go back to sleep, badly. And maybe tomorrow visit L.I.M.B. to see what was wrong with the chip.

"Yes it is. My apartment. Now", Adam ordered her. He wanted to finally shower and eat something. Deanna's shoulders sank.

"Fine. Just let me put a jacket on", she sighed. She disappeared into her bedroom and returned with a dark green hoodie on her. Shoes she did not bother to put on. She wondered what was so important that he had to disturb her sleep.

While the resident of the apartment disappeared to shower, Deanna looted Adam's cupboards. She had flickering remembrance that he had coffee hidden somewhere. She hated that poison but at the moment she would fall asleep any given time. She could not remember when she had felt herself so tired. Maybe in her youth after all-nighters or when she was ill were closest things.

After finding the coffee beans she put enough in for two people. At least Adam had washed his dishes so she found clean mugs. Left waiting for coffee to pour she was again with her thoughts. What Adam had to say? Why he did even appear to her door or hug her? They were neighbors or pals. Even Willy did not hug her. They all knew about her personal space requirements.

"What a mess", she grunted and massaged her temple. She wondered what time it was. Adam's shades were down but some light sneaked past them.

"What?" she muttered and hurried to lift them up. It was late afternoon! Last rays of setting sun painted buildings with gold and red.

She also saw smoke rising between the buildings around the city. Glasses were too thick but she wondered if she would hear sirens if they were open. She jumped to Adam's couch and opened the television.

That was where Adam found her, staring silent at screen. Before her opened Cassan reading news about riots and how Humanity Front had created custom virus affecting only augmented people. Her brows were knitted together as she tried to understand what she was seeing.

"How? Is she talking about computer or biological virus? Only thing different is the pedot and it's not biological – That's not possible", she muttered.

"It is not", Adam answered behind her back. He had to smile at her intelligence. Always criticizing what she was or heard.

Deanna jumped around startled. She had been so deep in her thoughts that she had not heard him. Yet there he was with only pants on and a towel around his shoulders. His hair looked completely black when it was damp.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Unpleasant knot formed into her stomach. Despite the apartment being warm, she wrapped her hoodie tighter around her body.

"Because that is a lie I created", he answered boldly.

"WHAT? Don't go joking about-", Deanna's voice climbed nearly an octave right from the beginning.

"I'm drop dead serious. All what is happening out there is my doing", he ensured her. Deanna noticed a hint of anger in his voice. If only she could tell who he was angry with. She burrowed her head into her hands. What the hell was going on? Adam waited for her reaction. What she would think now about him.

"Just, just- Argh, fuck if I know. At the moment this whole thing is messed up", she swore. Adam looked as she took few deep breaths. This seemed to calm her little.

"Co-could you just sit down and start from the beginning. Preferably so early that I'll understand what's happening."

So he told her. He needed to talk with somebody. Not with David or any scientist. Maybe it was because Deanna had listened to him before and they trusted each other.

At first her lack of vocal attendance slightly disturbing but soon find it soothing. She would only wrinkle her nose with disgust or do other small expressions.

He started about Megan's research, the attack it has caused to Sarif Industries that cost him most of his body and Deanna's hand. How attack of Purity First had turned into something far bigger than he originally thought. What he had found about Eliza.

That time Deanna nearly cut in. Luckily she got hold of her tongue soon enough not to let words slip past her lips.

She nearly felt tears dwelling into her eyes when he told about Malik's death. She had not personally known the woman very well but they had shared a table at cafeteria few times together, thanks to Willy. Faridah was a nice woman, thought they had looked each other down a little because of their differences. For Deanna, Faridah was too hot-headed and loud, while the pilot found Deanna sour puss and spoilsport.

She did not have to see expression on Adam's face to know he blamed himself for that. She knew him well enough to understand that. Her hand twitched to move, take contact with the man in front of her to show that she cared. But she chickened out. Instead she nodded when Adam was over with collecting himself.

Small smile for his lucky shot be able to save dozens of 'Jane Does' _and_ to collect evidence against Belltower.

When it was time to tell how he found Megan, Adam hesitated. Emotional wound of that was a bit too fresh and personal. But the poison wanted to be drained out. He glanced at Deanna, who was sitting still. When she noticed him watching she nodded. _Take all the time you need_.

Deanna seldom felt angry but now she seriously wanted to hit Reed. Adam was a wonderful person and did certainly not deserve to be treated like that cow had done. Had she even contacted Adam after he and Sarif had returned?

Her stomach lurched when the story reached Panchaea. Darrow's signal that had caused augmented people go nuts. She pulled up her sleeve. There were still pink marks where she had scratched herself. That all happened because she had replaced her biochip? The thought was scary. It also made her insides boil. How they dared to mess with her mind? That if anything was a crime.

Finally all culminated to shutting down the signal. His meeting with Taggart Adam felt unnecessary to mention, like what happened afterwards.

"I wonder if I did the right thing", he muttered. Not that he really felt that way. But it felt like it was supposed to be said. He felt somewhat better after telling all of that and it also cleared his own thoughts.

Deanna shook her head. Second time she wished for strength to comfort him somehow and tell that she believed he had done his best. Instead she rose from the couch,

"Do you want coffee?"

"I could kill to have some", he answered.

Adam retrieved his bottle of bourbon and poured them both some into coffee. They both certainly needed it.

"So I went completely crazy because of one corporation wanted to limit augmentations power but Hugh Darrow altered the signal to show how dangerous they were. That's plain sick", she muttered. Black coffee tasted awful. But it cleared her brains.

"Pretty much. You are alright now?"

"I-I think so. I still got this nasty feeling I should remember something, which is not possibly pleasant. Now, however, I have explanation for the state of my apartment", Deanna answered.

"You're taking this rather well", Adam stated. Deanna shook her head.

"What else could I do? Scream and faint? I'm way too practical to that. Accept what you can't change and change what you can. It saves you from many worries", she let out a sarcastic laugh.

"So what are you going to do now?" Deanna questioned the dark haired male. Adam sighed.

"Depends what David does. Thought I have to say I want to stop those Hydras. No one deserves what they suffer", he said. Did David know for what his products were used?

"Good to hear you've still some kick in you. Even Pritchard was worried sick about you when you went offline", Deanna said. Adam snorted.

"As if. That man would be delighted to hear I had kicked the bucket."

"Naw, bitching is just his style of showing he cares. He doesn't know how to express himself", she cooed. Thought she wondered was she actually talking about the cyber security chief or herself.

Deanna drained her cup empty.

"Now that I know why, I can stop worrying it and clean that mess up. Try to rest and see you at work", she said and rose. Adam stayed on the couch.

"How does everybody seem to think that way?" he asked humored. Despite the coffee he started to feel drowsy.

"I bet you don't still have your latest mirror replaced. Sleep wouldn't make you beauty queen but at least you'd stop looking like an ogre", she stated with smirk on her lips.

"Night Adam. See ya."

"See you", he answered over his shoulder. He emptied his coffee cup and filled it with bourbon to the rim. He was happy that at least Deanna was safe. He should send Willy a message at some point. Now other things pressed his mind.

_"Son, I know this is a huge favor to ask but could you consider that we continue Megan's research?"_

_"At least you're asking now, boss. It's a huge progress."_

_He could see older male's jaw tighten a little. Then again, Adam did not even try to be civil. Memories of betrayal were too fresh in his mind. _

_"I know you're upset but think about it. All those people, who would not have to rely on Neuropozyne. No withdrawal symptoms, no expensive shots every week. Everyone in need would be able to augment themselves." _

_Adam wondered why his boss looked suddenly off. Maybe he remembered Darrow. _

_"Please son. Think about it."_

Adam covered his eyes with a hand. David was so desperate and eager then. That man's worse part was hi non-existing ability to see the evil his discovery would cause. It was not _could_ cause but would. He had seen enough proof of it.

He rested his head back. Who he was kidding? He would not leave his boss down. There were only certain aspects he had to make David see. Illuminati would try to stop them and who knew what else. It was not about getting Detroit on its feet.

Another huge motivator was thinking about augmented people around him who would eventually end up suffering from Neuropozyne side effects.

Lifting the coffee cup on his lips and nothing coming, Adam realized it was already empty. He shook his head. It was like drinking water. After sending Willy a message saying Deanna was okay he headed for bed. He barely registered how nice it was to sleep in his bed when he was out cold. Tomorrow he would simply sleep and then there would be dozens of plans do be made.

* * *

Their relationship is progressing. Somewhat. If you look closely. I guess.


	14. Extra - Valentine's day

Warning: contain sexual content (okay, I'm honest, smut)

I'm so sorry for keeping such a long pause on updating (シ_ _)シ Maybe this will redeem me. At least I realized that I reaaally have to practice romance/lemons.

A little season treat for you guys^^. Let's imagine that they've been an item some time now. Because in the storyline there's still lots of things to cover until stuff is happening. So have fun~

* * *

**Extra - Valentine's day**

"Oh yeah! Tracy said yes", Owen stormed to the break room, pumping his hands up enthusiastically. There were cheers and clapping of hands from other workers on the room.

"About time, kid!" one encouraged him.

"I'm surprised that she agreed, considering you look like a frog", another friendly support echoed in the air.

Deanna turned her eyes to Lobo.

"Who's Tracy?"

"I'm rather surprised you don't know, considering how much Owy-son has been blabbering about her", Lobo stated over his cup of coffee. Why he was not even surprised she was out of the loop again?

"Well excuse me, princess. With all the renovations I've been rather busy", Deanna spread her hands and nearly spilled her tea on the way. The man on the other side of the table snorted.

"No, you're just being your usual ignorant yourself."

"Ignorant, _lovable_ myself, mind you", the other nerd blew him a raspberry,

"But we're getting of the topic now."

"Dunno too much about the woman, an office worker on the accounting side", Lobo told her.

"And let me guess. Not too handy with computer and that's how they met?" she rolled her eyes.

"Not quite, she actually ran to my car one day. I literally mean it. I was waiting to get to parking section and bham, something hit my passenger's side", Owen grinned from other table,

"She had been running and with icy street and was not able to stop when she saw the car on the way. I jumped out of the car and asked if she was okay. She was more worried about making a dent on my car than breaking her bones. Long story short, we've seen couple of times after that."

"Congrats Owen, you're officially dating a missile", Deanna grinned.

"Thanks. Which remind me, where I should take her, Roomba?" the man asked, looking slightly less confident.

"Why you're asking me?" the blond woman puffed.

"'Cause you're the only girl here."

Deanna looked around.

"Bugger, true that. I wonder where Nata is. She at least should be here."

"Though I doubt you should take any advice from her", Lobo interrupted,

"Roomba's idea of romance differ greatly from standard point of view."

There was laughter on the other tables as in a some kind of inside joke. Owen looked at Lobo confused, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Shut up, bastards", Deanna barked, annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm sure every woman would love to play a zombie-killing marathon on their lovey-dovey day. Jessie would first castrate and then chop me into pieces if I tried that. Though, I don't deny the idea about gaming being tempting", Jack laughed back.

"Did I step to stone age or something similar? You're obviously dating the wrong persons", Deanna could not really believe her ears.

"So are you offering yourself?" Jack asked and leaned closer. Deanna reached out and tapped his cheek.

"Oh. Hell. No", she answered with shit-eating grin on her face, "Besides, Valentine's day is a bunch of rubbish."

"You see now?" Lobo asked from Owen. The man nodded. Maybe the gender was not the key factor when asking dating tips.

"You're just bitter that no-one's really going to pick you", Jack teased her further. Deanna wondered what kind of reaction it would cause if she told _somebody_ had actually picked her already. And none other than the Adam Jensen, a mother-fucking hero of the company. Chew that, sucker.

"Never been and never will be. I'm far happier buying season sale chocolate a few days after and eat it all by myself", Deanna took a sip from her tea.

She started to wonder if Adam had planned something for the day. They had not talked about it and he had not indicated that something special would happen. Most likely Sarif would ship him somewhere around the world at that given day, anyway.

"Roomba, you're still with me?" Lobo snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. Deanna realized she was holding a cup of cold tea halfway to her mouth.

"Yeah yeah, just wondering about stuff. What were you saying?" she asked and gulped rest of the beverage down. The bitter aftertaste made her sneer.

"We're still pulling the trick this year?" the man questioned.

"What tric- oh you mean the bouquet? Yes, and I was actually thinking about lifting the bar", Deanna's smirk turned into a Cheshire cat wideness.

"Here I thought you had my curiosity but now you've my attention", the older man answered with an equally wide smile. Deanna leaned closer and lowered her voice.

"Okay, so the plan is this-"

Several floors up, Adam was going through his files. He and David had just returned from Europe and there was a load of paperwork waiting for him.

"I fucking love this", he grunted while scrolling down another message.

While he was reading through reports he wondered as well what he should do with the Valentine's day. David had technically promised to keep the day free but you never knew what would happen.

Also, Deanna was not the mushiest person around, which suited him well. The best idea might have been just to get a horror movie and stuff to eat.

Despite looking tough, Deanna had proved to be a scary cat when it came to horror.

_Adam was reading through a book when loud 'mommyyyy' - alarmed him. Next thing he knew, Deanna dived between him and the couch, head burrowed to his chest and arms wrapped around his torso. Surprised, Adam turned around to see what had happened but everything seemed to be okay with computer. The character stood idle in an old mansion or something similar._

_"What now?" he asked and soothed her head. Deanna mumbled something._

_"Sorry, could not quite catch that", Adam told her. Deanna lifted her head enough to wail,_

_"That fucking haunted temple. A fucking ghost jumped up into my face."_

_Deanna felt Adam's chest shake slightly, even if she could not hear a sound. She hit him lightly on the side,_

_"Not funny."_

_This made him laugh out loud. Deanna smacked him another time._

_"You poor thing. Come here", he lifted her face and stole a kiss,_

_"Any better now?"_

_Deanna nodded and changed her position to fit better on the narrow gap on the couch, where Adam was already lying._

_"You're still a chicken."_

_"Quiet, you vile man."_

Adam smirked for the memory. It had repeated several times and pretty much done reading impossible, but eventually Deanna had cleared the scary part of the game. Not that he minded her jumping to him. And the said woman seemed to enjoy the snuggling opportunity equally.

But it still let open the question of Valentine's day. Adam leaned back on his chair and stretched his hands over head. With Megan it had been easy, just a bouquet of roses, taking her out to eat and late stroll on the park. But he did not feel like doing the same thing with Deanna.

Unless- yes, that could actually work. A plan started form in his brains. Adam searched his phone.

"Hey Deanna, are you free next Sunday?"

14. February (Monday).

"Finally home", Deanna grunted and kicked of her shoes. Valentine's day was always joyous event for cyber security. It pretty much tripled their workload for few days with running from crashed workstation to another. Then they had to figure out if an opened season greeting had had some kind of virus attached and was there need for scan. Deanna had seen Adam once from the other side of the room before running to next place.

Valentine's day was really sickening to watch with all the plastic stuff around. Stuffed teddy bears and hearts and so much syrup that it made her sick. Thankfully she had yesterday to succumb; Adam had took her to a arcade gaming side where they had spent the whole afternoon.

It was still few hours before the time Adam had told her to come to his place to watch a movie. The woman tossed her messenger back on couch and stripped on the way to shower. She sighed in happiness when hot water hit her skin. Tension melted away with the pouring water. When she was out of the shower, she wondered what she should wear for the evening.

She pulled garments from her wardrobe, looked them critically and tossed away.

"Don't I really have anything in here", she groaned. And slapped herself mentally right away. She was not dressing up for a Valentine's day, she told herself. But you could still wear something nice, softer voice hummed in her mind.

Eventually she found her black skirt that ended a mid shin. It looked slightly wrinkled for being left so long to the end of the shelf. Deanna gnawed her lower lip. It had to do for now, she decided. She also chose one of her more revealing shirts. It was made of soft cotton-polyester mixture and she loved its carmine shade.

Deanna jumped up when she noticed what time it was. Slipping sandals on her feet, she hurried upstairs. Despite what she tried to tell others for time being just an illusion, they never seemed to buy that but blamed her just being late.

"Sorry, didn't realized how much it already was. Again", she breathed when Adam opened the door. He drank her appearance from messy mop of hair to well shaped legs. Had he not already known how she looked naked, which was even better than this, it would had stunned him. A skirt was something he definitely did not mind seeing on her.

"You look beautiful."

Deanna looked down, a v-neck shirt to boost her non-existent cleavage and her skinny legs peeking under the skirt.

"Um, thank you. You don't look half that bad yourself", she blushed, still not used to being complimented that way.

"Thank you. Step in, milady", Adam stepped aside. Deanna laughed.

"I thank thee, sir knight. Oh wow", she breathed when she was his living room. The blinders were down and there was few candles lit. On the coffee table was food and wine glasses.

"Surprised?" Adam asked and nuzzled her neck. Shivers ran down Deanna's back when he kissed her earlobe.

"More than ever. You didn't have to", she breathed out and swallowed hard. She was not going to cry on the most romantic thing someone had ever done for her. Her insides swelled with love and warmness.

"You like it?" Adam pried. So far the surprise was going even better than he had expected.

"I-I, yes, no, I love it. Thank you, Adam", she whispered and twisted herself that she could kiss him on the lips. They exchanged a few light pecks, until Adam forced himself to stop.

"Do you want some wine?" he asked. Deanna nodded, face lightly pink. On the couch she took a few grapes and chewed them while Adam filled their glasses with red wine.

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know anything about Pritchard acting like a stick stuck in his arse?" he called while pouring the drinks. He could not deny it being amusing. But when you actually had to have a meeting with the man, the humor decreased significantly.

"No? More than his usual self?" Deanna smiled, while cheering inside. Adam gave her a measuring look,

"I'm just wondering if you're telling the truth."

"Who? Me? Oh course I am", Deanna smiled and fingered her earlobe.

"Dear, you should really polish your lying skills", he smirked. Deanna crawled back to the other end of the couch, only to be trapped between it and the man.

"Haha?" she gulped. Her laugh turned into real when Adam tickled her from side.

"Oh please, stop it", she begged, trying desperately to protect her sides from his merciless attack.

"Not until you confess", he told her.

"Fine, fine", she breathed out and wiped a tear from her eye. Adam gave her time to collect herself again. He handed her a wine glass from which she took a sip. All Deanna could say was that it was red wine and slightly acidic. Fine enough even if not her absolute favorite.

"To be fair, it was not only me. It's kind of a tradition that Frank gets a Valentine's day rose bouquet from secret admirer. And no, we don't harbor some kind of secret love for him. I can't remember how we started it, might have been drunken dare or something. Anyway, this time there was a phone number on the card", she explained.

"And?" Adam had a bad feeling how this would end.

"Well, Lobo has a few gay friends, who are also lonely so we decided to help a little-" her voice faded out and his mind filled the blanks.

Adam covered his eyes with a hand. That explained a lot. He was not sure should be be amused or not,

"You're an idiot, you know what?"

"What? Everyone around me is telling that this is the season of love and we try, only to be made fun of. Thanks a lot", Deanna scoffed, playing hurt. Adam was as he had not heard a thing.

"So what we're watching?" she changed the topic.

"What do you say about that new space opera Halo Event?"

"Oh yes, yes, yes", Deanna chirped and kissed him on the cheek. She had wanted to see that movie for a while now.

"Figures", Adam reached for a remote and turned on the TV. Deanna settled against him and sighed in happiness. There was food, drinks, a good movie to watch and Adam to cuddle against. She smelled his familiar scent and succumbed deeper into the void of euphoria.

Adam secured her against him and looked into her eyes,

"Comfy now?"

Deanna nodded and moved slightly to fit perfectly against him. Lastly she placed a hand over Adam's lap.

"Yes, I am."

The movie just as great as Deanna had expected it to be. Sure, there were obvious plot holes, logic-farts and Adam spoiling who the real villain was even before halfway of the movie. But yes, otherwise it was really nice movie.

Towards the end and necessary mushiness her attention began to slip to the male next to her. Adam felt how her finger started to draw shapes on his upper leg. Curious to know what she intended to play, he let her do what she wanted.

The pattern moved slowly closer towards his crotch, heating the flesh on its way. Random movements circled around the area, teasing him lightly. Suddenly she changed her route and continued straight up his hips, stomach, chest and neck.

Deanna licked her lips and crawled up on Adam's lap, the skirt hiking up with her moves. She moved her leg over his so that she was facing him and pressed her mouth against his. There was still taste of the wine on their lips. Few first stayed sweet and slow, with full of care.

After a while the kisses grew feverish. Deanna lifted her both hands up to his neck, while Adam wrapped his hands around her midsection. Both of them pulled the other as close as possible.

Deanna was the one breaking the kiss. Her chest heaved up and down while she rested her forehead against Adam's. The man rubbed his thumbs against her waist in lazy circles. Adam wondered briefly how Deanna could express so much emotion with her man-made eyes when the gazed each other. While Deanna felt like she could happily be forever lost in in the light of Adam's yellow-green orbs.

"Wow", the blond woman breathed out and smiled at him. Adam answered the smile and pulled her into another kiss. Deanna felt his tongue asking an entrance into her mouth. She smirked but kept her lips sealed.

Adam did not let this disturb him and instead slid his hand down and up again below the skirt. Deanna yelped when he pinched her bottom and he took the opportunity to explore her mouth. The woman grazed Adam's tongue lightly with her teeth to voice her resentment. Adam grinned against her lips and massaged the place he had pinched. Heat pooled down to Deanna's stomach when she battled against Adam's tongue. He won, as usual, and claimed his prize. He searched every location in the place he already knew by heart, tasting fading hints of orange.

Again they pulled apart but this time Adam lowered his lip to her jaw. Deanna's groaned and tipped her head when he nipped a route down next to her vein. Adam could hear her rapid heart beat under her gasps. Deanna tangled her fingers in his short hair.

"Oh God", she breathed and arched her body closer to the touch when one of Adam's hands massaged her left breast over her bra. The bulge in his pants was evidence enough he was suffering from the same lust that burned through her.

"Adam", she groaned and bucked her hips against his. Contact made the man grumble lowly. He silenced it against her skin, but Deanna was still able to feel the vibrations.

"Say it again", he whispered into her ear. Now both of his hands were playing with her breasts

"Adam", Deanna whimpered, her voice climbing higher. She needed him, more than ever. She pressed her hips against him to get to the point but the man had other ideas. He lifted her shirt, trailing her skin on the way. Shivers ran down Deanna's spine when cool plastic pressed against her heated flesh. She helped the red article over her head and dropped it behind the couch.

"Daring, aren't we today", Adam grinned when he saw her bra. Deanna turned deep red despite trying to play cool. She had bought the black lace bra and matching panties some time ago and this had felt like a perfect moment to wear them. Now she was not so sure anymore.

"I-I-", she tried to form something sharp or even coherent in answer.

"Hush, you look stunning", Adam told her and attacked her neck again. Happy with his words, Deanna moaned and massaged his scalp, earning approving voices in return. Heat burned inside her and Deanna felt familiar pressure building on her stomach.

The man removed her bra and she shook them off, leaving her top completely bare.

Adam could not really help himself but continued his kisses and licks downwards. Deanna's skin was soft under his lips. Adam's beard tickled her skin and cool saliva on her skin drove her mad. Adam latched his lips around her left nipple and palmed the other one.

She gasped when Adam continued his assault with her breasts. After some time he switched sides, giving the other side the same attention as its sister had received. Soon the abused skin was red and glistening in the candlelight.

Deanna could not bear it anymore and pulled Adam head up. She kissed him desperately on the lips.

"Adam, please", she whimpered and nipped his earlobe. She placed butterfly-kisses on his neck, gasping now and then when Adam's hands danced over her skin.

"Please what, D?"

"You know very well."

"I know what?"

"Fuck me", she swallowed hard. Pressure inside her was maddening and last time was ages ago. Adam chuckled.

"Always straight with your words."

"I said please", she told him and tugged his shirt upwards. Adam leaned slightly forward, just enough to pull the cloth over his head. Deanna grinned and followed his torso down and up again. It had taken a while that they both were okay with someone else seeing their broken bodies. Deanna remembered broken mirror in his bathroom ages ago.

"Magnificent", she whispered seeing every place where machine met flesh. Deanna kissed Adam's body down and scratching every now and then. To get more space she dropped on the floor in front of him. Adam threw his head back when she massaged the bulk between his legs.

"Fuck", he swallowed, trying his best not to move his hips. Deanna grinned impishly, repeating the move couple of times. She then opened his jean and pulled them down. It was a heaven when pressure on his member ceased.

"Daring, aren't we today?" she grinned impishly for his lack of undergarments.

"For-ah", Adam stopped mid-sentence when Deanna smeared his precum and wrapped her fingers around his shaft and pumped. Gods how fast this woman was at learning. Deanna beamed with pride when Adam turned so easily into puddy in her hands. And she had not even started yet. She secured his hips with other hand and worked his member, now slower and then faster.

"Deanna", Adam groaned when she moved sluggishly.

"Yes, cry my name as I do for yours", she answered. She then removed her hand and leaned forward. Adam's breathing stopped when she licked his tip one time, then couple of times and took him in her mouth. The man bit his cheek hard not to come there and that moment when her hot cavern took him deeper.

"God, D", he repeated helplessly and searched something to take a hold off. This was not what he had planned for the evening but it was fucking great. Deanna continued her work and helped with a hand the part she could not reach. Another hand kept securing his hips from pushing too much forward.

Adam felt pressure building inside him. Not wanting the play be over yet, he reached down and lifted Deanna's head. Her lips made a small 'pop' sound when they opened around his member. He hauled her up with him and kicked off his jeans completely on the way. Deanna felt his erection press against her stomach when they engaged into a heated French-kiss, where Adam did not bother asking permissions.

The man dragged her over the floor and to his bedroom, where he pulled them both down on the mattress, him on top her her. Their lips were inches apart and both breathed heavily. Adam collected all his willpower and slowly unzipped the black skirt. The skirt flowed around her and revealed equally black panties. He dragged them both down and tossed behind him. Deanna squirmed and moaned when Adam returned up her legs, and circling around her crotch.

Blood rushed in her ears and Deanna bit her lip, trying not to howl, when Adam finally paid attention to her center. She spread her legs eagerly, thirsty to get more. Adam watched how she clawed the sheets in her pleasure. And he had barely touched her.

"More, please more", she panted. The heat was unbearable. Adam did as told and pushed two fingers inside her. She was already soaking wet. Deanna arched her back and cried loudly. Adam pumped his fingers in and out of her with growing tempo, stimulating her clit at the same time. Other hand kept Deanna's hips from meeting the thrusts.

He watched her breath grow faster and sweat starting to glisten on her skin. On the tell-tale sign of coming orgasm, he stopped and pulled his fingers out. Deanna wailed unhappily when the pressure disappeared.

"Adam, fuck me already", she groaned. The man was getting on her nerves.

"Patience, dear, patience", he teased her. To be honest, he was nearing the end of his patience as well. He crawled up and kissed her again. Deanna sighed in happiness and wrapped her legs around his hips.

He pushed inside her with one smooth thrust. Joining made them both groan. Deanna cried when Adam started to move again and they both fell in the sea of passion. The man bit his lower lip to start slow. Deanna silenced her cries best she could. Adam wanted a change on that and changed his angle.

"Fuck!" she cried. Adam grinned against her neck.

"That's right, scream all you can", he growled between thrusts. Deanna's breasts squeezed between their bodies and each move made brought closer to the madness. Adam fought to keep his speed slow. The woman had other ideas how the things should be.

"Faster, I swear Adam if you wonthhh-" Adam cut her mid-sentence with deep trust. Burning swirled inside him and his pace turned more erratic and hurried. Deanna snapped her hips against his, balancing on the edge of bliss.

"Adam, Adam, Adaaaam!" Deanna's screams bounced from the wall when she came undone. Adam growled when her walls squeezed around him. He followed few thrusts later, howling her name equally loud. He half-collapsed on top of her, trying to avoid crushing her totally.

They breathed heavily, enjoying the after glory. Deanna nipped and licked Adam's neck lightly, while his hand circled her side. She smelled like vanilla, he noted.

"Still hating Valentine's day?" Adam asked and pulled out of her.

"I never said I did", Deanna croaked. She rested a hand on her throat and swallowed couple of times.

"I just said I don't see the point. But you cleared that up well enough", she smiled and kissed him.

"Ready for round two then?"

"Mmm, I could take a glass of wine first", she smiled softly. She stretched her hands over her head, "I don't have your sport stamina, you know?"

Adam followed her jaw with his fingers,

"That's something we have to change."

"You know I hate sports", she groaned.

* * *

PS. Any thoughts maybe...


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